SANTA CLARA, Calif. — On Wednesday, we took a closer look at some of the possibilities the San Francisco 49ers will have to consider as they seek both short- and long-term solutions at quarterback.

What’s missing from that discussion (and still is, really) is what exactly new coach Kyle Shanahan wants in his franchise signal-caller. Shanahan will turn his attention to evaluating quarterbacks, especially the college kind, here soon enough. But in the meantime, new general manager John Lynch joined KNBR radio this week and offered some insight into how the process will work.

Lynch made it clear he knows how important getting the right quarterback is for the team’s rebuilding efforts.

“That’s a big question,” Lynch said. “When I played, I had to play against those guys, and so I don’t know if I ever, in my mind I think I knew but I couldn’t really admit it to myself because it would only be surrender. Because when you go against a great one, you’re helpless. So I’ll tell you, that changed when I went up in the broadcast booth and you start just seeing the effect these guys have on football teams.

“I think there was a stat that I saw recently, where on the AFC side, 14 of the last 16 Super Bowls have been [Tom] Brady, [Peyton] Manning, then Ben Roethlisberger had a couple in there. And so that just speaks to how important that position is.”

FRISCO, Texas — Before Super Bowl LI, ESPN Insider Adam Schefter reported that Tony Romo wants to play in 2017, pushing off retirement and potential lucrative offers from television networks.

While we can mention a host of potential suitors for Romo, let’s first eliminate the Dallas Cowboys. It’s not happening. The Cowboys made it clear they were rolling with Dak Prescott and the rookie responded with a 13-3 record, 23 touchdown passes and the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

Last week, owner and general manager Jerry Jones was asked by NFL Nation reporter Paul Kuharsky, who covers the Tennessee Titans and co-hosts a radio show in Nashville, how he could convince Romo to stay in Dallas.

“That’s a tough one,” Jones said. “But one thing’s for sure, going into that playoff game, I really thought that we had the best quarterback personnel even with all the due respect to [Aaron] Rodgers. We had two quarterbacks that were capable, in my mind, of playing at a level that could get us to the Super Bowl in case you had an injury or just your depth at that position. And I felt that we had from about the sixth game on last year, seventh game, thought we had a superior position at quarterback because if Dak got nicked up. We knew he had a hot hand; we knew the team was really motivated around him and he played to the strengths of our team, but we also knew we had Romo and, boy, was he executing well at practice. He could just do about anything he wanted to against our defense.

“So we knew we were in good shape with Dak or with Tony, and so I can still remember the comfort in that position and there’s something to trying to stay there.”

The salary cap says otherwise. Romo is set to count $24.7 million against the cap. Romo’s desire to continue to play is another reason it won’t work. There can’t be an open competition for the starting quarterback job. That wouldn’t be fair to Prescott or Romo. And you don’t pay a $14 million base salary to a backup quarterback. Oh, and Romo won’t take a pay cut. Remember, he wants to play.

The best solution is a clean break with a release or a trade.

But there was a way the Cowboys could have kept both players in 2017 and it goes back to Prescott’s hot hand in an 11-game winning streak.

Had the Cowboys gone back to Romo once he was healthy from the compression fracture in his back and Romo performed the way the Cowboys thought he would entering 2016, then they would have been set for the present and the future.

We can’t extrapolate Romo’s seven snaps against the Philadelphia Eagles that ended with a touchdown pass and say he would have been dominant, but let’s say he performed the way he did in 2014 when the Cowboys went 12-4. Let’s say the Cowboys continued to win, clinched the NFC East and maybe even home-field advantage and made the playoffs. Let’s say the Cowboys won a playoff game or two.

Now he will have to see Romo in another uniform and remember what Jones said on 105.3 The Fan after the Cowboys lost to the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round:

A Canadian Football League team has denied a report that it worked out former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, who is attempting a comeback after sitting out the 2016 NFL season.

Saskatchewan Roughriders general manager and coach Chris Jones told TSN that “no one from our club” worked out Manziel.

In a separate statement to ESPN, the CFL said: “We are investigating. The Riders tell us that they did not work out Manziel. So at this point, it appears the report is false. Should other evidence come to light, we will deal with it accordingly.”

Denise Michaels, Manziel’s spokesperson, said Manziel has not worked out for a CFL team.

The Roughriders would be in violation of CFL tampering rules if the workout did occur, because Manziel’s CFL rights are owned by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Jones told TSN that he is “considering legal action.”

The Canadian blog 3DownNation reported Thursday morning that Manziel worked out for Saskatchewan officials in Florida prior to the Senior Bowl. Practices for the Senior Bowl began Jan. 24 in Mobile, Alabama, and the event concluded with a game on Jan. 27.

Manziel, 24, was not immediately available for comment.

In a Jan. 12 post on Instagram, he said he had been sober for 18 days and was pursuing a comeback. In a subsequent message sent to ESPN’s Ed Werder, Manziel said: “I love sports, I love football and when you take something away from yourself you realize it the hard way. The happiness from doing it sober has been ASTRONOMICAL. Beyond my wildest imagination and once that continued other good things started happening in my life and it just clicked.”

Manziel, a first-round pick in 2014, spent 10 weeks in rehab after his rookie season. He was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

He made a rare public appearance last week for an autograph session in Katy, Texas. He did not take questions from reporters.

The CFL season begins in June.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler contributed to this report.

Newly hired Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said he remains in treatment to battle alcoholism, and he expressed gratitude toward the organization for giving him an opportunity.

“Everybody has issues that they have to deal with — some physical, some mental,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “This happens to be an issue of mine that I work on daily. That is important to me so I can be the best person I can be, the best father I can be, the best coach I can be. And I’m diligent in that.

“To be in an organization that recognizes the work that I’ve put in and that I’ll continue to put in and support that, it’s one that I’m very grateful for and thankful for, just as I was at Alabama with Coach [Nick] Saban.”

Sarkisian, most recently the offensive coordinator at Alabama, landed the Falcons job Tuesday, replacing new San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.

Sarkisian’s bout with alcoholism has been well-documented. He was fired as the coach at USC in October 2015. Then-athletic director Pat Haden said Sarkisian showed up to school in no condition to lead practice. That followed an embarrassing moment at a pep rally, where he appeared to be intoxicated while speaking.

Sarkisian later sought treatment for his alcoholism and sued USC, alleging the school breached his contract and discriminated against him based on his disability.

“This isn’t something that is necessarily in my past,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “It is something that I have to work on every single day, that I do work on every single day because it is important to me. It’s important to who I am as a person.”

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  Matt Ryan has earned the right to make more play calls and more adjustments, and new Falcons OC Steve Sarkisian won’t be making an overhaul.