2023 mock NFL Draft: 49ers watch NFC get significantly stronger

With the season now over for the 49ers, attention now turns to how the offseason landscape will work out for them, and the 2023 NFL Draft is key.

With only the Super Bowl separating us from the offseason, it’s now time to start taking a look in depth at the NFL Draft and how the landscape looks.

While there will be a rise in the salary cap for 2023, the San Francisco 49ers will have minimal cap flexibility with a lot of money needing to be tied up in signing internal free agents as well as bringing in a very big extension for EDGE Nick Bosa.

The Niners have gotten big steals late in the draft, though, so there’s no reason to think they can’t do it again.

This is the final season San Francisco won’t be picking in the first round due to the Trey Lance trade back in 2021, so the team still has to be creative in finding some later gems. The main concern for the first round is exactly which players land in the NFC (more specifically, the NFC West), especially with divisional rivals like the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks picking quite early.

I’ll be doing two mock drafts this offseason: this first one, as well as one immediately preceding the actual event. The first mock will not have the benefit of the free agency market happening yet, so teams filling needs here may very well fill them with a veteran and be looking elsewhere.

But again, that’s what the second mock draft will be for.

I will also not be doing any trades for this first mock NFL Draft, but I will for the second one. The reason for this is that trade rumors aren’t very rife yet, and I also want the first draft to be more linear without having to calculate trades.

There will be the 31 picks (the Miami Dolphins had their first-round pick forfeited for tampering) plus a special slide for the 49ers’ first pick, just to keep you interested.

So let’s dive in.