2017 NFL Draft: 49ers Win First Round of Draft After Trade with Bears

The San Francisco 49ers, led by general manager John Lynch, pulled off a bountiful trade with the Chicago Bears, which helped the Niners win the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Last night’s first round of the 2017 NFL Draft was summarized best by a

humble

wise man:

The #49ers won the first round of the #NFLDraft.
— Inside the 49ers News and Analysis (@insidethe49) April 28, 2017

Lynch and the 49ers are the talk of the draft after netting two third-round picks and one fourth-round pick in exchange for trading back one spot in the first round. With their new No. 3 pick, the Niners drafted the player they intended to choose with the second overall selection, Stanford defensive end Solomon Thomas.

Jul 15, 2016; Hollywood, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal defensive end Solomon Thomas poses during Pac-12 media day at Hollywood & Highland. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

The 49ers then utilized one of their new draft picks to move back into the first round, and drafted top-five talent Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster.

The 49ers won the first round of the draft.

Dec 3, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Reuben Foster (10) attends a press conference after the SEC Championship college football game against the Florida Gators at Georgia Dome. Alabama defeated Florida 54-16. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /

The trade has been described as stunning, jaw-dropping and even highway robbery. But was the trade really that surprising or lopsided?

Just yesterday, we recognized the distinct possibility of a 49ers first-round trade, thanks to Lynch’s efforts in the buildup to the 2017 NFL Draft:

"Lynch is using the media to attack opponents by masking the 49ers’ true intentions, and thus raising the potential trade value of the No. 2 pick.”"

Lynch was able to create value in order to exchange that value for additional draft capital. But did the Bears give up too much draft capital in the trade?

Later in the article, we made an important point that came to fruition last night:

"Thanks to Lynch’s pre-draft smokescreens, and the current state of the organization and leadership, the 49ers find themselves in a unique situation. This situation could provide them with an opportunity to trade with a team that either doesn’t need a QB, or isn’t willing to overpay for one. The 49ers don’t need to ‘win’ a draft trade per the draft value chart, or any other chart; they just need to win the trade from a personnel perspective."

Contrary to reports, the Bears didn’t lose this trade in highway-robbery fashion; at least not on paper.

Per the draft value chart, the difference in value between the No. 2 and No. 3 picks is 400 points. The value of the three additional picks the Bears traded to the 49ers is approximately 517 points. The difference in value isn’t particularly jaw-dropping.

In fact, if the 2018 pick is compensatory, the Bears may actually “win” this trade on paper. Bears fans can dislike this trade because they don’t like the player selected, but the Bears didn’t overpay for the opportunity to make the selection.

If the 49ers are highway robbers, they may not have robbed the Bears, but they did make out like bandits. By trading back one spot to a team that wasn’t going to draft their desired player, the Niners essentially negated the difference in value between the No. 2 and No. 3 picks.

In essence, the 49ers traded away nothing, and received three picks in exchange.

Next: 49ers' Biggest Needs After Round 1

Not a bad first day for a rookie GM.