The 49ers are deep enough into their rebuild that stockpiling draft picks no longer takes precedence over adding pieces to contend for a Super Bowl. General manager John Lynch has been liberal with his use of picks in trades that make his club better right away. It started by shelling out a 2020 second-round selection to the Chiefs for defensive end Dee Ford. It continued Tuesday when the 49ers added Emmanuel Sanders and a fifth-round pick for third and fourth-round choices.
The result of those two trades left the 49ers in a relatively unique position with their picks. Here’s an updated list of their assets for the 2020 draft:
Round 1 (own)
Round 5 (own)
Round 5 (via Broncos in Sanders trade)
Round 6 (own)
Round 7 (own)
Round 7 (via Lions in Eli Harold trade)
Six picks isn’t necessarily bad, but five of those six picks in the latter portion of Day 3 probably isn’t a great situation to be in.
Chances are the 49ers won’t go into April’s draft with these selections. There’ll be more moves between Week 7 and Draft Day. Plus compensatory picks still need to be doled out.
Fortunately for the 49ers, this situation no longer feels disastrous. Even the 2019 draft would’ve been scary without any of those mid-round picks. Now the haul for those picks with veteran NFL players is worth more to the 49ers than the prospects they’d get. That’s a good place to be in for a team aiming for a championship run.
