As has been the case over the past several months, the San Francisco 49ers were close to pulling off a blockbuster trade.
In contact with the New York Giants about Odell Beckham Jr. over the past calendar year, San Francisco nearly acquired the Pro Bowl Receiver before he was sent to the Cleveland Browns.
At issue here was New York’s asking price of the No. 2 overall pick in April’s draft for the talented receiver. It had been noted in the past that the 49ers were not willing to offer that selection up to the Giants.
In talking about trade negotiations for OBJ, 49ers general manager John Lynch noted on Friday that the second selection was “too valuable” to San Francisco.
This makes all the sense in the world. New York ultimately took a mid first-round pick and third-round selection in 2019 as well as safety Jabrill Peppers for Beckham.
Giants general manager David Gettleman wanted to add a second first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Cleveland was in position to offer that up. The 49ers weren’t.
It’s also important to note that Gettleman was more inclined to trade Beckham to the AFC. This means the 49ers and their NFC counterparts would have had to offer more than the Browns for the wide receiver.
It’s an interesting case study given that selecting No. 2 overall proved to work against the 49ers here.
This comes on the heels of the 49ers saying they offered more to the Oakland Raiders for Khalil Mack than they received from the Chicago Bears in a trade last year. Oakland didn’t want to move Mack across the bay.
At the very least, this downtrodden organization is proving to be somewhat proactive on the trade market. It did add Pro Bowl pass rusher Dee Ford in a deal with Kansas City earlier in the month.
As it relates to April’s draft, the 49ers are more than willing to trade down from the second selection. A lot of that will depend on whether the Arizona Cardinals do in fact pick Kyler Murray No. 1 overall.