49ers choose Lynch for GM

SANTA CLARA, Calif.

The San Francisco 49ers made a surprise hire to fill their general manager void Sunday, hiring former NFL safety and Fox television analyst John Lynch to replace Trent Baalke.

Lynch comes into the job with no front-office experience, having gone straight from the playing field to the broadcast booth. But after a lengthy search that included interviews with nine other publicly identified candidates, team CEO Jed York settled on Lynch.

ESPN first reported the deal, saying Lynch had gotten a six-year contract.

After playing for former Niners coach Bill Walsh in college at Stanford, Lynch went on to have a stellar 15-year career with Tampa Bay and Denver that included three All-Pro selections and one Super Bowl title with the Buccaneers. He’s a finalist this year for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Since retiring in 2008, Lynch has been an analyst at Fox.

Now he will be tasked to rebuild a once-proud franchise that has fallen from NFC champions in 2012 to a 2-14 record this past season that matched the worst in franchise history. That led to the firing of Baalke and coach Chip Kelly as York set to overhaul the operation after the struggles the past few years.