Draft starts with WRs on move, but not Deebo
Marquis Brown and A.J. Brown heading to new teams via trades
SANTA CLARA >> Third-year wide receivers got traded in stunning spree midway through the NFL draft's first round Thursday night.
First, Marquise Brown, going from the Baltimore Ravens to the Arizona Cardinals.
Then, A.J. Brown, from the Tennessee Titans to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Next, Deebo Samuel, the one who openly opined for a trade? Not yet, and not likely as the draft unfolds pick by pick.
When the draft opened just after 5 p.m., Samuel posted an Instagram video of him boarding a plane in Southern California. An hour later, it became apparent where he wouldn't be going: to the New York Jets.
If he can't make it there, he can't make it anywhere, right? In that first hour, the Jets used both their first-round picks, and neither was ticketed in a trade for Samuel.
“You just don't let guys like
that walk. I can't envision a scenario where we would,” general manager John Lynch said Monday about swapping Samuel off the 49ers' playoff-caliber roster.
Samuel's plane touched down in Las Vegas, just as news broke of the deals for the Browns.
A.J. Brown's move came with a four-year, $100 million extension with $57 million guaranteed, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. In return, the Titans got the No. 18 overall pick, plus the No. 101 pick.
Samuel is represented by the same agent as the Eagles'
Brown, who totaled nearly 3,000 yards and one Pro Bowl berth in his three seasons with the Titans. Samuel has totaled 2,598 yards and one Pro Bowl berth, but also All-Pro honors and 550 rushing yards.
The Cardinals gave up their first-round pick (No. 23) for Marquise Brown and a third-round pick (No. 100).
Speculation swirled all week that the Jets were the hottest and draft-pick heaviest pursuer of Samuel, who confirmed his trade request to ESPN a week ago.
The Jets, instead, chose cornerback Sauce Gardner at No. 4 overall and wide receiver Garrett Wilson at No. 10. That latter pick reportedly was offered in a deal for Samuel, who was Wilson's hype man in a predraft video that ran on NFL Network.
The longer the 49ers stayed without a first-round pick — they dealt their choice, No. 29, to the Miami Dolphins in last year's package to get Trey Lance at No. 3 overall — the more it affirmed they might not deal Samuel.
Samuel is entering the final year of his rookie contract. The best leverage he may have had faded as each draft pick was used Thursday. After all, the 49ers wouldn't dare part with their Len Eshmont Award winner for anything less than a firstrounder, right?
Probably, unless multiple picks somehow sway them as the draft resumes tonight with the next two rounds, where the 49ers hold three selections (Nos. 61, 93, 105)
The cost of an expected extension skyrocketed last month when Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill secured contracts worth nearly $30 million annually via trades to the Raiders and the Dolphins, respectively.
This draft was deep in receivers (on rookie deals the next five years), and four were picked in a fiveslot span: Drake London (No. 8, Falcons), Wilson (No. 10, Jets), Chris Olave (No. 11, Saints) and Jameson Williams (No. 12, Lions). That pool got smaller when Jahan Dotson (No. 16, Commanders) and Treylon Burks (No. 18, Eagles) came off the board.
Panthers in QB market
The Panthers remain in a quarterback market offering the 49ers' Jimmy Garoppolo and the Browns' Baker Mayfield via trade.
At No. 6 overall, they went with a quarterback protector (offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu) rather than a quarterback to challenge or replace Sam Darnold and P.J. Walker, their only two on the roster.
Five defensive players went in the first five picks, so the Panthers had their choice of offensive players, including quarterbacks Kenny Pickett, Malik Willis and Matt Corral.
Garoppolo's March 8 shoulder surgery put trade talks on hold around the league, Lynch acknowledged Monday. He added that no team was close enough to deal for the veteran quarterback that it required a physical which could have prompted the surgery.
Not only is this the first draft since 2013 to go without a quarterback in the top-five picks, it's the first since 1997 that none went in the top 18, which is the year the 49ers took Jim Druckenmiller at No. 26, according to the Associated Press' Josh Dubow.
Rush on pass rushers
Defensive ends Travon Walker (Jacksonville Jaguars, No. 1), Aidan Hutchinson (Detroit Lions, No. 2) and Kayvon Thibodeaux (New York Giants, No. 5) reinforced the notion that pass rushers were more appealing this draft than quarterbacks.