The San Francisco 49ers made no major moves at the NFL trade deadline on November 4, despite devastating injuries. Still, the team fought to produce a 6-3 record that suggested they could go deep into the playoffs with the addition of a key defensive player. It was a passive non-move that Niners reporter Grant Cohn, who works for Sports Illustrated, analyzed as follows on Twitter: “It was a sign of weakness and missed opportunities. The team should’ve been more aggressive like Super Bowl contender the Eagles, who acquired edge rusher Jaelan Phillips at the deadline. It was a failure to "seize the moment."
Fellow 49ers reporter David Lombardi of the San Francisco Standard, who in his podcast studio affirms his affiliation with the team with Niners photos and jerseys (he grew up a diehard fan), offered a contrasting breakdown, stating on Twitter that the non-trade was a strategic choice based on management’s doubts about the wisdom of "going all-in" on a squad that's experienced so many devastating injuries to its stars on both defense and offense this season. But on November 3, the day before the deadline, Lombardi wrote in the Standard, “Mykal Williams’ crushing knee injury should spur trade-deadline movement.” But when that movement didn't come, he went with his instincts and defended team management.
Forgetting about the need to replace Mychal Williams, he emphasized salary cap realities and roster health returning soon, even though the team's two defensive superstars, Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, are out for the season. Lombardi suggested the lack of action was preferable to overpaying for short-term fixes. He tweeted, “Kyle Shanahan confirms the 49ers were interested in making another DE trade beyond the Keion White addition, but that prices were too steep.”
“Confirms”? Shanahan, like all NFL head coaches, lies to the media all the time, but Lombardi, a stenographer, takes what his guy has to say at face value. It’s a combination of naivete and ass-kissing.
Grant Cohn said the team should've traded for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams—not necessarily a great idea, given his cost, but at least Cohn explained his reasoning. Lombardi’s consistent, always taking the Niners management and star players’ side. There's no tension when Lombardi enters the team's locker room, unlike Cohn, who can get so far under the players' skins that last season fullback Kyle Juszczyk falsely accused him of peeping at them while they got dressed.
Who was right on the trade deadline issue? Who knows? But Cohn’s a provocateur, while Lombardi's a “homer” whose uninspiring schtick is cheerleading for the team.
Here's a representative tweet from Lombardi: “Classic fan/social media impatience anxiety yesterday… many would have rather the 49ers made a bad move than no move just so they could feel activity. I guess that’s comforting? Very predictable, happens every single trade deadline.” They don't want “activity,” and they don't want a “bad move.” They want to go to the Super Bowl, and they get upset when they don't see management working to achieve that. Perhaps Shanahan’s speaking like this because he doesn't want to divulge that team ownership is too cheap to pay for a new player. A good journalist would at least explore this possibility. Grant Cohn did.
Lombardi wants Kyle Shanahan to like him. Cohn doesn't care. Shanahan makes $14 million per year, so it's his job to answer questions. The coach appears not to like Cohn, which is fine. It's not a journalist’s job to be likeable. Given all of Shanahan's foibles—he's a three-time choker in the Super Bowl—someone has to hold him accountable.
Here's a handful of Grant Cohn’s thoughts on Shanahan: “Kyle Shanahan got outcoached by the worst head coach in football tonight.” “Kyle Shanahan always has a reason not to play his best players." “Why Kyle Shanahan is to blame for the #49ers latest Super Bowl collapse." But it's not all one-sided. When Shanahan succeeds, Cohn will give him his due, but the praise doesn't come off as robotic.
Criticisms of Grant Cohn run along the lines that he's a “hot take” artist or a “professional troll” who values stirring the pot and clickbait more than informing his audience. He's guilty of this sometimes—as he’d probably admit in private—but the choice is whether to go with a rubber-stamper or someone who's not afraid to upset the team he covers, despite the inevitable discomfort it’ll produce.
Lombardi, with the annoying Twitter handle, @lombardihimself, is smug. He's dismissive of 49ers fans’ opinions, which Cohn avoids, despite the onslaught of criticism he receives from offended fans who only want good news.
On November 4, Lombardi tweeted about injured 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, “Kyle Shanahan said that he's ‘pretty confident’ that Brandon Aiyuk will play at some point this season. 49ers still waiting for Aiyuk to hit certain markers on GPS speed measurements before opening his practice window.” But what Shanahan tells the media is meaningless. He's telling them what he wants them to believe.
The idea that the team will soon open up Aiyuk’s practice window, as Cohn pointed out, has nothing to do with whether or not he'll play again this season. Maybe the team doesn't want him to play again this season. It's obvious they want to trade him, so they don't want him getting hurt again. Cohn thinks there's a good chance that Aiyuk won't play again this season, which is a credible assessment. Lombardi doesn't even entertain this possibility.
The best example of Lombardi’s blind loyalty to Kyle Shanahan was his cheerleading of the 49ers awful former field goal kicker, Jake Moody—he of the powerful leg and wobbly mind under pressure. When it became obvious that the team had wasted a high draft pick on the kicker—NFL teams almost never take a kicker in the third round—Grant Cohn consistently pointed it out, while Lombardi treated Moody like he was his kid brother who just needed a little more time. After Moody once had a decent game, Lombardi tweeted, “Jake Moody is now accepting your apologies.” Journalists are not supposed to talk like a player's agent. After the 49ers finally cut Moody, one Twitter poster said to Lombardi, “The 49ers are now accepting your apologies.”
Grant Cohn’s critical approach to covering the 49ers is a high-risk proposition that he learned about from his father. Lowell Cohn used to cover the team with brutal honesty for the San Francisco Chronicle. In San Francisco, it took chutzpah to criticize football deity, Joe Montana, who once called Cohn a “master of the low blow.”