The defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers have two first-round selections in the 2020 NFL Draft Thursday night. After that, San Francisco is not slated to pick until the fifth round.
It has led general manager John Lynch to indicate that the 49ers are looking to move down from the 13th and/or 31st picks Thursday night.
According to this report, San Francisco is right up there with the Detroit Lions as the teams most aggressive on the trade-down front. The report notes that the 49ers could have takers for both picks.
Acquired from the Indianapolis Colts in the blockbuster DeForest Buckner trade last month, San Francisco’s initial first-round pick could be of major interest to other teams.
That’s especially true if Alabama product Tua Tagovailoa drops outside of the top-12 selections. He’s rumored to be facing a draft day fall Thursday evening. I covered in detail recently one team that might be looking to move up to land Tua.
Lynch noted earlier in the week that San Francisco sees six prospects as foundational players. Should none of those six be available at 13, a trade down seems likely.
As it relates to the 31st selection, this is also a valuable trade-down spot. Teams selecting in Round 2 would love to move back up late Thursday evening in order to pick up a fifth-year player option on a rookie deal. That would be magnified if quarterbacks Jordan Love (Utah State) and Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma) are still on the board at 31.