Who's More Essential to the 49ers' Future: Kyle Shanahan or Brock Purdy?

Tough choice.

If the 49ers had to get rid of Kyle Shanahan or Brock Purdy after next season, who should they pick? Which person is more essential to the 49ers' future?

Let's start with Shanahan. He's a top-three offensive coach in the NFL. If the 49ers were to fire him or put him on the trade block, lots and lots of teams would want him. Almost every team wants his offensive system, and many teams employ his former assistant coaches.

Shanahan helped build the 49ers roster, which seems good enough to win a Super Bowl, considering it's been to two in the past four years and held double-digit leads in both of them. So he's a high-level coach. But he also choked in both of those Super Bowls. Found new and inventive ways to come from ahead and lose with the best roster in the NFL. Which means he might never win a Championship.

Purdy has his flaws, too. His arm is relatively weak, so he can't threaten defenses the way Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes can. But Purdy also is the best quarterback the 49ers have had in more than 20 years, and good quarterbacks are much harder to find than good head coaches. If the 49ers trade Purdy, they could spend another 20 years trying to find a quarterback who's as good as him.

And let's be clear. Purdy didn't choke in the Super Bowl -- Shanahan did.

So if the 49ers could keep only one of them past this year, they should keep the quarterback.