And the 49ers’ 1st-round NFL draft pick is ... no one! Here’s what they traded it for
With the possibility of drafting a potential successor for Trent Williams or addressing another position of need, the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday instead opted to add to their NFL draft haul, making two trades late in the evening to exit the first round entirely.
San Francisco traded the 27th overall pick as well as a fourth-round pick to the Miami Dolphins for the 30th and 90th picks, as first reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN and quickly confirmed by the 49ers on X. The trade came just before the 49ers were to make their first pick in the three-day NFL draft.
The 49ers followed this by immediately flipping their newly acquired 30th pick to the New York Jets for the 33rd and 179th picks.
San Francisco entered the night with six picks in the seven-round draft and turned that into seven. They essentially parlayed their first-round pick and a fourth-round pick into the first pick of the second round plus a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick.
All of this could change, of course, if the 49ers make additional trades ahead of the start of the second round, which begins 4 p.m. Pacific time on Friday. One benefit of trading for that specific spot: it gives 49ers general manager John Lynch and company nearly a full day to negotiate any potential deals.
The 49ers on social media were brief in their commentary on Thursday’s trades. The team posted to X after the second trade: “John Lynch (handshake emoji) Phones,” then minutes later added: “See you on Day 2!”
Who the 49ers passed on Thursday evening
Still on the board when the 49ers made their first trade was Caleb Lomu, a left tackle for Utah. That is the same position played by Williams, a future Hall of Famer and one of the finest left tackles of his era, who will turn 38 in July. Still, that doesn’t mean that Lomu would have come in without big goals.
While the 21-year-old Lomu is just a third-year sophomore and could need further development, he has expressed ambitious plans.
“My goal is to start as a rookie,” Lomu said, according to the Akron Beacon-Journal. “Get in the NFL and start right away, make an impact right away.”
The Dolphins used the traded pick on Chris Johnson, a cornerback out of San Diego State. Lomu went one pick later to the New England Patriots.
Some mock drafts had the 49ers using the 27th pick on Malachi Lawrence, an edge rusher from University of Central Florida. But the Dallas Cowboys snagged Lawrence with the 23rd pick. Others had the 49ers taking Omar Cooper Jr., a wide receiver out of Indiana.
Cooper would have been an option for San Francisco, but the Jets took him at No. 30 after trading for that spot.
Other first-round picks
Some players had long since been drafted by the time the 49ers would have made the 27th pick, had they kept it.
Former Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who won a national championship with Indiana in January, was more or less a lock to go the Las Vegas Raiders first overall. There were no surprises on that front. Mendoza did not attend the draft ceremonies, held in Pittsburgh, in person.
There was minor drama in the evening, with Ohio State edge rusher Arvell Reese, considered by many the top defender in the draft class, falling to the New York Giants with the fifth selection. Beyond this, the 49ers’ division rival Los Angeles Rams found a potential successor for Matthew Stafford by drafting Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick.
All the same, there was no chance of Reese going to the 49ers barring a trade up, which San Francisco had minimal draft capital to pull off. And had Simpson fallen to 27th, it seemed unlikely the 49ers would’ve used a first-round draft choice on a quarterback, given Brock Purdy and Mac Jones’ places on the roster.
What lies ahead in the draft for the 49ers
San Francisco is currently slated to make three of its seven picks in this year’s draft Friday and the remaining four on Saturday.
As of Thursday evening, the Friday picks are:
- Round 2, the 33rd overall pick and the first of the day
- Round 2, 58th overall
- Round 3, 90th overall
The Saturday picks are:
- Round 4, 127th overall
- Round 4, 133rd overall
- Round 4, 139th overall
- Round 5, 179th overall
The first trade, with the Dolphins, sent pick No. 138 along with No. 27 in exchange for No. 30.
The 49ers entered the draft without picks in the third, fifth, sixth or seventh rounds due to trades over the past two years for Osa Odighizuwa, Bryce Huff, Brian Robinson and Khalil Davis, respectively.
Odighizuwa was just traded for in March and has yet to play for the 49ers. Robinson played one season for San Francisco and is now on the Atlanta Falcons. Huff and Davis retired after each playing a season for the 49ers.
