SF 49ers: Ranking 5 best trades under John Lynch

No. 5: SF 49ers trade down in 2020 NFL Draft

The SF 49ers did very well with this 2020 NFL Draft trade simply because they got the player they wanted all along, South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, plus an additional fourth-round pick in the swap with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In context, the whole deal was made possible by John Lynch’s moving of Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts for the No. 13 overall selection earlier that offseason.

Through either leveraging a potential trade-down offer or perhaps even leaking they were looking at an offensive lineman, the Niners managed to get the Buccaneers to jump up one spot, giving up a fourth-round pick in the process.

The haul itself is fairly small, which is why this trade slots in at No. 5, while another similar trade can be found much higher up on the list. But it’s a great example of a team making a savvy move to maximize its position.

It would have been much easier not to have traded the pick and simply selected Kinlaw. But by trading, Lynch extracted surplus value from the situation.

It’s the type of move savvy teams and smart front offices do.