NFC Notes: Matthew Stafford, Kenny Clark, 49ers, Packers, Rams

49ers

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan addressed why the team hasn’t drafted offensive linemen in the first round.

“I’ve heard the narrative that, you know, that we’re ignoring the O-line. If we felt the O-lineman was the best pick there, there’s no doubt that’s who we’d take,” Shanahan said, via The Athletic. “But there’s some O-linemen there at the end of the first round that you feel have just as good a chance as a guy at the end of the second round. One’s a higher prospect and might have a higher ceiling, but I’m not too concerned about the ceiling. I want to know if he’s going to be a starting left tackle, a starting left guard, whatever, a starting NFL player. And if you are a starting NFL lineman, I think we can have a good team with you. (But) if we have a bunch of starting NFL linemen (and) there’s no one who can score points, we’re not going to have that good of an offense. It’s weird to me that … I’ve never been on a team that was favored to win every game the whole year before the season started. And we’ve been (listed as) that two years in a row. So what that tells me is people think we’ve got a really good roster. Well, if we were drafting only O-linemen, we wouldn’t have as good of a roster.”

Shanahan added that the teams that he’s been around and helped build have developed great rosters, even if they haven’t always typically invested heavy draft capital in building up the offensive line.

“One of the biggest things that drives me crazy throughout my whole career is being at places that just draft O-linemen in the first and second round because no one can really talk about whether they’re big busts or not,” Shanahan said. “We don’t really think that way. We don’t have a philosophy to avoid O-linemen. We just don’t have a philosophy that says we’re always going to build inside-out because you’ve got to establish that for the run game. Look at our run game everywhere. Look at our run game in Washington (when Shanahan was the OC under his father, Mike). I mean, we drafted Trent Williams, we had the fourth pick in the draft. … Our left guard was cut from Denver. Our center was a practice-squad player. Our right guard was a free agent that we got from Baltimore. And our right tackle we got off the street. And then our running back was a sixth-round pick. And we rushed for more yards than the Hogs ever did or John Riggins and all those big-time Hall of Fame people. We want O-linemen, don’t get me wrong. But you don’t just get to pick whoever you want. … We have been favored in every game for two years in a row. Our roster is damn good.”

Packers

• The Packers signed DT Kenny Clark to a three-year, $64 million extension with $17.5 million fully guaranteed from a signing bonus. (Over The Cap)
• Clark will receive a $7.5 million roster bonus if he’s on the roster on the third day of the 2025 league year. He will receive an additional $11 million roster bonus if he’s on the team on the third day of the 2026 league year. (Over The Cap)
• He can earn another $1 million every year in per-game roster bonuses. (Over The Cap)

Rams

The Rams settled on a new deal with QB Matthew Stafford which gives him more guaranteed money past 2024. Stafford likes the deal and is happy to get back to work in Los Angeles.

“It was a good agreement,” Stafford said, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “Listen, I’m happy to be where I am, you know what I mean? I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to be playing. I’m excited about playing football this year and that’s what matters to me the most, to be honest with you.”

“I don’t even think about that kind of stuff, to be honest with you. In this business, I’m play-to-play, day-to-day and I’m moment-to-moment so I’m happy to be doing this. Today was a great start for our team, which was really fun to be out there with these guys. We have some guys back that haven’t been out on the field for a while so it’s great to see those guys come out and practice. Shoot, we haven’t done this in a while so it’s nice to be out here and throw it around to let these guys do their thing.”