Kyle Shanahan has kept a low profile for three months, since his 49ers were dethroned as NFC champions with a 6-11 record and last-place finish.

Tuesday morning, he emerged at the NFL’s annual owners meetings in Palm Beach, Florida for a state-of-the-franchise summary.

Most fascinating: His explanation about the 49ers’ peculiar pursuit of Dre Greenlaw. which failed to prevent him from leaving for the Denver Broncos.

Most encouraging: Christian McCaffrey is “healthy and doing great.”

Most obvious: Kicker Jake Moody faces competition with a yet-to-be-named veteran.

Most likely to be on a 2025 bumper sticker: “It’s not like we cleaned everybody out. We still have big-time players.”

Here’s the best of what Shanahan said and how to interpret his comments from his media session, which followed general manager John Lynch’s Monday:

FREE AGENCY PURGE >> The 49ers have lost eight starters and 19 total players in free agency. Shanahan is reluctantly on board with this offseason’s budget recalibration.“I anticipated it. I’ve known it’s coming for a while,” Shanahan said. “But no matter what you’re anticipating or ready for, it’s still not very much fun going through it. A lot of guys you care about, a lot of good players go, but it’s part of this business.”

Shanahan agreed that the 2023 Los Angeles Rams and the 2024 Buffalo Bills offered blueprints for quickly succeeding after roster turnover. And he doesn’t pretend to be a bystander.

“I’m a part of it all. It’s not like you’re sitting down there and just coaching and blowing a whistle,” he said. “You understand how the salary cap works to a degree.”

FLYING TO GREENLAW >> For the first time in nine years together, Shanahan and Lynch took a recruiting trip for one of their own free agents. Their flight to Texas went in vain three weeks ago: Greenlaw did not decommit from his three-year, $31.5 million deal with Denver, where he’ll take on the middle linebacker role he couldn’t have with Fred Warner as his 49ers teammate.

“When you’re going through the recruiting part, when he’s committed to someone else, we wanted to see Dre face-to-face,” Shanahan said. “He happened to live in Texas, so it was a little farther and we couldn’t just meet him at our facility.”

Shanahan described Greenlaw and 2022 All-Pro safety Talanoa Hufanga, also poached by the Broncos, as “two of my favorite guys to work with in my career.”

RUNNING BACK DEPTH >> Christian McCaffrey is returning to full health after an injury-marred 2023, but that won’t stop the 49ers from an annual search for running back depth in the draft.

“Every single year we’ve gone through this — except two years (2022, ’23) — we’ve gone through four running backs. Most teams do,” Shanahan said. “You always have to be prepared for that. But Christian is healthy and doing great.”

While Shanahan noted that financial constraints prompted the 49ers to trade 2024 rushing leader Jordan Mason to Minnesota, and said Isaac Guerendo “ran harder as the year went, which is a good sign.”

ON KICKING COMPETITION >> A yet-to-be-named veteran kicker is expected to sign after the draft to compete with Jake Moody, who has had a rocky two-year tenure.

“When your job is on the line, going against someone who’s talented, you do feel that pressure,” Shanahan said. “I do believe if you can overcome that and beat out a capable guy, that will show us he’s capable for the season.”

Moody’s sophomore slump saw him miss 9 of 20 field-goal attempts (and a point-after kick) upon returning from a lower-leg injury that sidelined him three games in October. A 2023 third-round pick, Moody struggled late in his rookie season, then opened 2024 by making 12 of 13 field-goal attempts before spraining his right (kicking) leg while attempting a tackle on kickoff coverage in Week 5.

BROCK PURDY STATUS >> Shanahan was halfway through his 30-minute roundtable before a reporter asked about Brock Purdy. Could the fourth-year quarterback hold out of offseason workouts until he lands a team-record contract extension?

“I hope not. I know Brock doesn’t want to do that. We don’t want to do that. No one wants to do that,” Shanahan said. “But these are negotiations that go on between agents and our organization and it’s over a lot of money. Those aren’t things you just knock out right away.”

JONES’ DELAYED ARRIVAL >> Four years after bypassing Mac Jones to draft Trey Lance at No. 3 overall, Shanahan is excited to work with Jones as Purdy’s backup.

“It’s kind of funny to put all that time into him for the draft and wait five years later but having him on our team five years later, we’re excited to get to work with him,” Shanahan said. “I just loved how he played the position, especially in college. He got the ball to the right spot, didn’t take sacks, would hang in there and get hit to distribute the ball to his playmakers.”

WIDE RECEIVER PLAN >> Brandon Aiyuk’s $23 million option bonus kicked in Tuesday, and Shanahan did not rule out the possibility his top wide receiver could return to the lineup from an October ACL tear as the season begins in September.

“We’re told by the doctor there’s a chance but it’s too early in the process,” Shanahan said. “When we get to training camp, we’ll see what it looks like.”

Demarcus Robinson, formerly of the Rams, adds not only insurance for Aiyuk but a physical and versatile presence, Shanahan said.

As for trading Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders, Shanahan said: “He was a unique player who was really fun to have and someone I definitely didn’t want to lose.”

TRENCH WARFARE >> “There’ll be more competition for starting spots as there’s been in a while, especially on defense,” Shanahan said of the roster shakeup.

This offseason’s attrition is glaring on both the offensive and defensive lines, the latter of which Shanahan hopes to fortify with some of the 49ers’ 11 draft picks.

After releasing three defensive linemen — Javon Hargrave, Leonard Floyd, Maliek Collins — Shanahan was asked if he had identified replacement starters next to Nick Bosa. “I see a couple obvious ones. It’s so obvious I’ll let you figure them out,” Shanahan quipped. (One guess: defensive tackles Jordan Elliott and Kevin Givens, with Yetur Gross-Matos opposite Bosa.)

Aaron Banks’ departure at left guard is creating an open competition between Ben Bartch, Nick Zakelj and Matt Hennessy. One option to replace Jaylon Moore at swing tackle is to convert Spencer Burford from right guard, Shanahan confirmed.

Shanahan said center Jake Brendel won’t have to compete for the starting job he has held three straight seasons, adding that Brendel “does protection as well as anybody in the league” despite mismatches on the interior.

COACHING STAFF MOVES >> Four years after leaving to become the New York Jets’ coach, Robert Saleh is back as Shanahan’s defensive coordinator.

“I know how good at X’s and O’s he is, and how well he just runs his side of the ball,” Shanahan said. “But going through this with Robert once before where we really had to build it, change things up, add things, and take things away, I went through it with him once before and we did a pretty good job at it and we learned a lot.”

Tight end coach Brian Fleury has assumed the title of run-game coordinator, which was held the previous two years by offensive line coach Chris Foerster. Shanahan named three new coordinators earlier this offseason: Saleh (defense), Klay Kubiak (offense) and Brant Boyer (special teams).

York: Purdy a top-10 QB on cusp of huge contract

Making Purdy the highest-paid player in franchise history remains the 49ers’ intention, team owner Jed York insisted Tuesday amid a roster overhaul — including the departure of eight starters — that reflects the “consequences” of their payroll shift.

“It’s a decision that we made, I can’t tell you exactly when, but midway through the season, that we want to make sure Brock is here for a long time,” York said at the NFL owners meetings.

“Again, you can’t pay somebody quarterback money and have all of the other talent around the way we had,” York continued. “Now we have to start filling that piece with the draft.”

Told that critics are calling him cheap, York shrugged it off: “I’ve been called worse.”

Yet to be determined is how much Purdy’s extension will cost and exactly when it will come, presumably ahead of the fourth and final year of his rookie deal.

“I feel good, and when he’s ready, we’ll sit down and finish it. It shouldn’t be that hard to do,” York said.

Purdy’s agent, Kyle Strongin, had kept negotiations private.