49ers make deal with Miami to acquire the No. 3 pick in NFL draft
Trading up for the No. 3 pick Friday vaulted the 49ers into the draft’s luxury real estate market, where a highcost move can yield their next franchise quarterback.
And that likely third quarterback off the board April 29 will be …
Someone the 49ers have pegged to succeed Jimmy Garoppolo, though not necessarily this coming season.
The Jacksonville Jaguars and the New York Jets are projected by most draft analysts to take Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson with the top two picks, respectively. That leaves quarterbacks Justin Fields, Trey Lance and Mac Jones for the 49ers.
The cost to procure the No. 3 pick from the Miami Dolphins is a staggering amount of draft capital: first-round picks each of the next three years, starting with next
month’s No. 12 selection, plus a third-round pick.
“Oh wow,” tight end George Kittle tweeted once ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news.
The 49ers’ brass immediately informed Garoppolo he remains “in our plans,” general manager John Lynch told NFL Network’s Steve Wyche while attending BYU’s pro day that featured Wilson. Schefter cited an unnamed 49ers source as saying: “Jimmy is here to stay. He’s our guy this year.”
If Garoppolo stays as a short-timer once his heir apparent arrives at the No. 3 draft spot, the 49ers will invite their biggest quarterback controversy since Colin Kaepernick unseated Alex Smith in 2012. Trading for Steve Young in 1987 to back up Joe Montana set the bar, of course, for all NFL quarterback quandaries.
If the 49ers deal Garoppolo, then coach Kyle Shanahan would be entrusting a 2021 playoff run to a rookie quarterback, and no rookie has ever started a Super Bowl, and this one would likely learn on the fly if the offseason program goes virtual like last year because of the pandemic.
Or maybe the 49ers flip that No. 3 pick into something outside the Wilson Fields-Lance-Jones box, such as acquiring a veteran such as Houston’s Deshaun Watson or Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers or who knows what anymore, like maybe a defensive lineman for the sixth time in seven years with their top pick.
Friday afternoon’s official announcement of the trade included no comments from Shanahan nor Lynch, both of whom are slated to hold a news conference Monday.
Options at No. 3
Clemson’s Lawrence is expected to go No. 1 to the Jacksonville Jaguars, then the next-most touted quarterbacks are BYU’s Wilson and Ohio State’s Fields, the latter of whom worked with Shanahan at a summer clinic four years ago.
The Jets drafted Sam Darnold No. 3 in 2018, and if Wilson surprisingly slides to the 49ers, he’d come with the strong endorsement of Steve Young, a fellow BYU product who delivered the 49ers’ fifth Lombardi Trophy 26 years ago.
Lance (North Dakota State) and Jones (Alabama) are also top options. Of that pair, Jones is seen as the 49ers’ more logical fit in the eyes of NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms, a close friend of Shanahan’s.
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah acknowledged that Jones “does fit a lot of things Kyle Shanahan really values at that position,” Jeremiah said on Friday’s “Path to the Draft” broadcast. Jeremiah also wouldn’t rule out Fields, whose pro day is next week.
Lance, however, is who Jeremiah projected to the 49ers after the trade, stating: “The signs point more toward Trey Lance, just from a skillset standpoint. When they came out and said Garoppolo would still be a part of their plans, that, to me, meant, ‘OK we don’t have to rush this guy on the field.’ ”
News of the trade broke Friday morning while Wilson began his pro-day workout at BYU, with Lynch and the Jets’ brass in attendance.
Four years ago, the 49ers bypassed quarterbacks with the No. 3 pick and instead drafted defensive tackle Solomon Thomas, who fled last week in free agency for the Raiders. The 49ers owned the No. 2 overall selection in that draft but traded it to the Chicago Bears, who took Mitchell Trubisky ahead of a quarterback crop that included Watson and Patrick Mahomes.
Garoppolo’s future
Garoppolo, until further notice, is expected to remain the 49ers’ starter for this season’s quest to return to the Super Bowl stage, where he and the 49ers lost a late lead to the Kansas City Chiefs in February 2020.
Shanahan and Lynch publicly have backed Garoppolo on every occasion since, well, since he arrived in a 2017 Halloween trade with the New England Patriots, who’ve been rumored all offseason to try retrieving him. Garoppolo nor his agent could be reached for comment.
Garoppolo has two years remaining on a contract that calls for annual salaries of roughly $24 million. His injury history (torn ACL in 2018, high ankle sprains in 2020) prompted the 49ers to say they’d at least try to upgrade the backup roles.
Josh Rosen and Josh Johnson are the current backups, and neither has taken a snap for the 49ers. Former backup C.J. Beathard signed a two-year deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday, and former fill-in starter Nick Mullens is a free agent rehabilitating an elbow injury.
Cost of the deal
Surrendering three firstround draft picks is a nearhistoric dowry paid by the 49ers, rivaled by a 1976 package that brought Jim Plunkett from New England for three first-round picks, a second-round pick, plus quarterback Tom Owens. The 49ers’ 1978 trade for O.J. Simpson also backfired after they shipped to the Buffalo Bills five draft picks, including a first-rounder.
The 49ers’ first-round picks have not all panned out since Shanahan and Lynch took over in 2017, starting with that year’s selections of Thomas (who left in free agency last week for the Raiders) and linebacker Reuben Foster (No. 31; released in November 2018). Other first-rounders: right tackle Mike McGlinchey (No. 9 in 2018), defensive end Nick Bosa (No. 2 in 2019), defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw (No. 14 in 2020) and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (No. 25 in 2020).
The 49ers now have eight picks: Round 1 (No. 3), Round 2 (No. 43), Round 4 (No. 117), Round 5 (Nos. 155, 172, 180), Round 6 (No. 194) and Round 7 (No. 230). They have traded picks in Round 3 (Trent Williams, Washington) and Round 7 (Marquise Goodwin, Philadelphia), in addition to the picks traded Friday to Miami.
The third-round pick sent to the Dolphins is the selection the 49ers acquired from the NFL’s diversity hiring initiative as compensation for Robert Saleh, their former defensive coordinator who became the New York Jets coach this offseason.
The Dolphins, in a subsequent trade, sent the No. 12 pick (plus No. 123 overall and a 2022 first-round pick) to the Philadelphia Eagles for the Nos. 6 and 156 selections.
The 49ers have drafted seven quarterbacks in the first round since 1950, including three at the No. 3 spot: Y.A. Tittle (1951), John Brodie (1957) and Steve Spurrier (1967). Other firstrounders: Earl Morrall (1956, No. 2), Billy Kilmer (1961, No. 11), Jim Druckenmiller (1997, No. 26) and Alex Smith (2005, No. 1).