While the 49ers are busy scouting talent at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, they’ve already evaluated the talent at right tackle and are convinced Trent Brown will continue to get better.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan recently said, “He’s the best pass protection tackle I’ve ever seen in my life.” Shanahan said Brown has to continue to work on his consistency, but has the ability to form a great combination at offensive tackle with Joe Staley on the left side. Staley – the perennial Pro Bowler – also is high on Brown’s ability. As Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote recently, Staley has compared Brown to “Jonathan Ogden, a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”
The 49ers want to improve their offensive line this offseason, but their focus is at guard, not tackle or center, where Daniel Kilgore has already signed a new deal.
Brown, at 6-foot-8 and 355 pounds, hasn’t reported in the best shape the past two years, reported Branch, but Lynch liked the way Brown’ season was progressing in 2017 until it was cut short by injury. He’s expected to be ready to go for summer training camp.
“I thought he made great strides last year,” said Lynch. “I really did.”
The 49ers, however, aren’t likely to give the big tackle a contract extension yet, as Brown enters the final year of his deal.
“I think there’s more pressing things right now,” Lynch told reporters this past week. “That’s not to say that that couldn’t happen in the future, but right now there’s some other things that are more pressing. We still have Trent for another year under contract. We’re pleased to have him.”
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Brown, a seventh-round pick from Florida in 2015, is set to make about $1.9 million in 2018.
