Why 49ers get draft picks for losing Ran Carthon, DeMeco Ryans

The San Francisco 49ers don’t have many NFL Draft picks, but will be compensated for losing two vital members of its organization over the offseason.

One of the problems with being an elite NFL organization is that sooner or later, you’re going to lose members of your outfit to other teams that need new coaches or members of the front office.

The San Francisco 49ers are going to experience this at least twice, with the director of player personnel Ran Carthon leaving to become the general manager at the Tennessee Titans and the Niners all but guaranteed to losing defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans to one of the multiple teams keen to interview him this week.

Read More: 49ers news: DeMeco Ryans is all but gone from Niners next season

While it’s annoying to lose some of the people that are so vital to San Francisco’s success, that’s just to be expected and it comes with the territory. At the very least, the 49ers are going to be compensated thanks to the Rooney rule.

For those unaware or who don’t remember, this is the Rooney rule:

"Clubs must interview at least two diverse candidates from the Career Development Advisory Panel list, or a diverse candidate not currently employed by the club.Clubs must conduct an in-person interview with at least one external minority candidate for any GM or head coaching interview."

Part of the Rooney rule is that teams that develop diverse candidates are compensated. The Niners were compensated for losing former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to the New York Jets, and they’ll be compensated here.

The 49ers will receive one third-round compensatory pick here and in 2024. It’s important to note that losing a second diverse candidate does not net you two picks again but only one, so losing DeMeco Ryans would net a third-round pick in 2025 but not 2026.

The Niners won’t have a super early pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but with 11 picks, they certainly have some room to move up a little bit if there’s a prospect they desire. It’s certainly unlikely they’ll use all 11.

San Francisco will be sorry to see Carthon and Ryans go, but perhaps a gem unearthed late on Day 2 of the draft could be their final contribution to the team.