Will 49ers make multiple moves down in NFL draft?

The 49ers don’t need a home run in the 2020 NFL draft, but they should still trade back at least once.

While the 49ers are in a good spot to contend next season, their draft capital situation is dire. That may not impact them in 2020, but it could derail their long-term goals of competing in a larger window than just one or two years.

San Francisco has the No. 31 pick in the first round, then they don’t pick again until early in the fifth round. They could likely survive the 2020 campaign with those picks, but it would also behoove them to move back from that spot and accumulate some picks later in the draft.

NFL Media’s draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said on a conference call Saturday that he’d be surprised if the 49ers don’t trade out of their scheduled first-round spot.

“I think it makes a ton of sense,” Jeremiah said. “I would almost be surprised if they didn’t do that. When you’ve got where they’re picking at 31 is always kind of a popular trade pick because teams, especially if you want the quarterback and now we’ll see how I haven’t dug into the new CBA, if this thing passes or not, and how that will impact the fifth- year situation. But traditionally over the last several years that’s been a popular pick you can get out of if you’re San Francisco and teams will come up. That to me makes more sense to recoup some picks.”

The 31st pick could be pretty valuable depending on how the draft shakes out, so the 49ers could get some suitors for that selection. A trade back would make it pretty easy to scoop up multiple picks in the middle rounds.

Jeremiah’s follow up to his initial statement is intriguing though. He said that the depth in this year’s draft may allow the 49ers to trade back multiple times to add picks to their war chest.

“So the strength of this draft, I think there’s a lot of depth,” Jeremiah said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see (49ers general manager John Lynch) trade back a couple times, really try to restock with some of those middle-round picks. They can go find some players, especially in the secondary, you’ll find some really good players in rounds two and three.”

A multiple trade back scenario would depend a lot on what the 49ers wind up getting in a move from the 31st pick. If they get a pick in the second, third and fourth round, it would be easy to see them staying there and then using some of their later draft capital to maneuver up and down the board.

It would also depend on what their roster looks like after free agency. If they find themselves having to replace multiple starters like Arik Armstead, Jimmie Ward and Emmanuel Sanders, then trading back a couple times to ensure they’re maximizing the amount of players they can bring in to fill out their roster will be vital.

The good news for San Francisco is that they don’t need a home run draft after a super successful 2019 class. They can’t neglect it though, and making prudent moves around the board to ensure they have quality depth in 2020 and beyond will be an essential part of a successful draft.

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