No, Robert Saleh is not coming to the 49ers
Stop asking for it; the 49ers are not going to change defensive coordinator to accommodate Robert Saleh after the latter was fired from the New York Jets. They aren’t bringing him in as a consultant, either. No matter how bad the defense may be, with any future losses, blown leads, or what have you, the 49ers will ride Nick Sorensen and Brandon Staley until the season’s end, at the very least, perhaps longer.
Had the San Francisco 49ers managed to let the 20-point lead they had against the Seattle Seahawks slip away completely, you’d probably find some fans spending this weekend calling for Kyle Shanahan to do the above scenario: remove Sorensen as defensive coordinator or at least bring in Saleh.
While the 49ers held the lead and won against their division rival, there’s still some talk about the defense’s lack of quality, save for some rookie interceptions. People will still think that Robert Saleh should return to the 49ers in some capacity.
Well, there’s one thing true: the 49ers defense isn’t inspiring at this point in the season, despite the superb play from the rookies. Yes, they probably made some things a bit more difficult for themselves yesterday, with assistance from special teams. That’s it, it’s just. Not. Happen ng. Saleh’s not coming.
But here, let’s go into reasons:
Saleh is taking a vacation and sitting out the rest of the 2024 season
Earlier this week, Michael Silver reported that Saleh plans to prepare for the next hiring cycle, during which he should be in demand as defensive coordinator. 49ers General Manager John Lynch was on his KNBR segment and echoed this when asked about Saleh:
“Well, first of all, my heart goes out to Robert. I talked with Robert yesterday. He’s a great friend, he always will be. His family, they are great friends and that was tough. He did a lot of good things there, couldn’t get over the hump and they made a tough call. Robert’s got a big family and a lot of people that he was caring about. His mind was on—he’ll be ok. He’s a really good football coach and a really good human being. He’s got a lot of ties here. We’re not focused on that right now. We were more talking just to say, “man, sorry.” Robert’s going to be fine. He’s going to find his way. I think he’s planning on sitting this year out. Like I said, we’re happy with the way we got things going.”
So there’s the actual report and some pretty hard consistency from Lynch. It doesn’t sound like it’s happening. On the surface, Saleh is going to spend some time with his family and get involved in 2025.
Looking at contracts, when an NFL coach is relieved of duties, they typically have an active contract. That means the New York Jets are paying Robert Saleh not to coach the team. So why wouldn’t he go spend time with his family?
