The 49ers aren’t on the move in the draft yet, but the likelihood of movement down the board is increasing. ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday reported the 49ers are fielding calls on both of their first-round selections in an effort to trade down and acquire more draft capital.
San Francisco picks at 13 and 31, then they’re off the clock until the 156th pick. Their second-round pick was vacated in the trade for Dee Ford last offseason, and they sent their third and fourth-round choices to Denver to acquire Emmanuel Sanders in the middle of last season.
It’s been a near certainty that the 49ers were going to try and move back in the draft even before they acquired the 13th pick from the Colts in the DeForest Buckner trade. Going three full rounds without a selection is a difficult way to operate in the draft, especially for a team like the 49ers that’s had so much success in Rounds 2, 3 and 4.
The intriguing thing to keep an eye on is that 13th pick. If they can move back a couple spots at 13 and acquire some mid-round capital, then move back again at 31, they could really set themselves up to have a really nice war chest built up that will allow them to go into Day 2 with the ability maneuver around the board to ensure they’re selecting players they want.
The quantity of the picks matters less than the quality for a team with most of its Super Bowl roster intact, and trading back will give them the ability to maximize the quality of their picks. We probably won’t see a pre-draft trade of either pick, but don’t be surprised if the 49ers are very active moving down the board in the first round of the draft.
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