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National Football League roundup

[January 31, 2017] Jan 30 (The Sports Xchange) - The San Francisco 49ers announced the hiring of former nine-time Pro Bowl safety John Lynch as the 11th general manager in franchise history on Monday.

Lynch, 45, is a four-time Hall of Fame finalist, including for the Class of 2017. He played college football at Stanford before enjoying a 15-year NFL career with the Buccaneers and Denver Broncos, serving as a captain of Tampa Bay's Super Bowl XXXVII championship team.

San Francisco did not release the terms of Lynch's deal, but his contract will reportedly span six seasons.

Lynch replaces Trent Baalke, who was fired along with coach Chip Kelly on Jan. 1 after serving as the team's general manager since 2006. Kelly went 2-14 in his lone season with San Francisco.

The 49ers have not yet hired a replacement for Kelly, but will reportedly offer a six-year contract to Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan after Super Bowl LI

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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft says his relationship with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will never be the same after the league's handling of the Deflategate scandal.

Kraft had a once-close partnership with Goodell until the commissioner handed down a four-game suspension that quarterback Tom Brady served at the beginning of this season along with a $1 million fine to the team and the forfeiture of a first-round pick in 2016 and a fourth-round choice in this year's draft.

The Patriots and Brady were accused of deflating footballs prior to AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts in January 2015.

"I don't know if it will ever be the same, but in order to do what is best for the Patriots franchise long term, I believe it is best to compartmentalize and move on," Kraft told Gary Myers of the New York Daily News.

"Like our quarterback, I am trying to remain positive and look to the future rather than dwell on the past. As a native New Englander, that's easier said than done, but I am doing my best to put the matter behind me."

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Former NFL head coach Rex Ryan will join ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" as an analyst for the network's Super Bowl LI coverage.

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The 54-year-old Ryan was fired by the Bills with one game remaining in the 2016 season after posting a 15-16 record over two years with the team.

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Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill is expected to avoid surgery on his partially torn ACL, according to a report Monday.

Tannehill was having an MRI on Monday but he isn't believed to require a surgical reconstruction of his ACL prior to the 2017 season, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Tannehill suffered a sprained ACL and MCL in his left knee in the Dec. 11 game against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 14.

The MCL sprain is giving Tannehill some trouble and he might visit Germany for the platelet-rich plasma therapy used by some athletes including former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, according to the report. The procedure takes a patient's blood, spins it to separate the platelets, then is re-injected into the knee.

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Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing underwent shoulder surgery recently after the team was eliminated from the playoffs by the New England Patriots.

Cushing had the surgery two weeks ago, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reported Monday. Cushing described the surgery as a "clean up."

Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney was forced to pull out of his first Pro Bowl after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery last week. The surgery was just to clean up the knee and he will not miss any time during the offseason. (Editing by Andrew Both)

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