After shipping Deebo Samuel off to the Commanders, the 49ers may be inclined to also trade down from No. 11 overall in the NFL Draft.
The San Francisco 49ers shook up the football world during the 2025 NFL Combine by trading away wide receiver Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders after he requested to be dealt at the conclusion of last season.
All it took from Washington was a fifth-round draft pick, which bumps the number of picks at general manager John Lynch's disposal to 11.
Speaking of Lynch, during the combine, he stressed the Niners' desire to get younger while admitting they were one of the oldest teams in the league last season. In doing so, the general manager subtly suggested some grand-sweeping changes could be on the horizon.
Perhaps some more predraft trades take place. But there's also a scenario where San Francisco engineers some in-draft moves, too.
And one of them might mean moving off the 49ers' top selection, No. 11 overall.
49ers trading down in NFL Draft now makes sense after Deebo Samuel trade
Wide receiver now becomes a need for the Niners in the post-Samuel era, while both the offensive and defensive lines require attention, too. Grabbing a linebacker is vital, especially if Dre Greenlaw departs via free agency, and there's also a need to add a safety.
The chances of adequately addressing each of those needs with 11 picks is slim.
But the nature of this year's draft class also affords Lynch and Co. with a unique opportunity. By trading away Samuel, they've admitted the need to "turn the page" on aging, increasingly expensive players. Infusing youthful (and cheap) talent is now more important than it was only a year or two ago, but maximizing draft value has to be a priority.
As ESPN's Adam Schefter pointed out right before the combine, the level of talent after the first 10 picks doesn't dramatically drop until well within Round 2:
.@AdamSchefter laid out how much depth is in the 2025 NFL draft 👀
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) February 26, 2025
"The player you get at No. 10 in this draft is similar to the player that you get at 35." pic.twitter.com/OdZNYYcIOM
Plenty of other draft pundits have also admitted the strength of this class is from pick Nos. 11 through 50.
San Francisco, needing to hit on talent and infuse youth, could take advantage of this by trading back from its top pick, especially if there's yet another run on quarterbacks to kickstart the draft and one of the many quarterback-needy teams is aiming to move up in the pecking order.
Sure, that could mean the 49ers miss out on a top-10 (or even a top-five) talent who potentially slips because of said run on signal-calllers.
But, if that affords the Niners the opportunity to snag a hefty haul from the best portion of this year's class, it'd potentially be worth it.