49ers NFL Draft: 3 helpful trades John Lynch could make
By Peter Panacy
The 49ers haven’t been shy about making trades in the middle of the NFL Draft, and John Lynch might explore these three transactions.
The San Francisco 49ers have already engineered one blockbuster trade move for the 2021 NFL Draft, moving up from No. 12 overall to No. 3 in a deal with the Miami Dolphins.
The Niners’ move here all but guarantees they’ll go with a quarterback in that spot, and there’s been no shortage of speculation surrounding which signal-caller they’ll grab.
Yet that’s just one of nine total picks at general manager John Lynch’s disposal. After the No. 3 overall pick, San Francisco won’t select again until No. 43 overall, taking place in the second round. And then in Round 3, the 49ers have to wait all the way until the end where they’ll have a compensatory selection at their disposal.
Lynch has engineered plenty of draft-day trades before, including last year’s three major moves: moving down one spot in Round 1 with the intent of grabbing defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, trading up in the latter portion of Round 1 to land wide receiver and, of course, sending off two mid-round picks to the Washington Football Team for Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams.
There were other day-three trades, too, including trading off running back Matt Breida and wide receiver Marquise Goodwin to help with positioning and draft assets.
The point here is Lynch should be expected to make even more trades at some point after the 2021 NFL Draft kicks off on April 29.
With one major move already in the books and garnering the bulk of the attention, here are three other trade scenarios Lynch should at least consider.