San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch revealed the blunder that cost the team a draft pick in 2025, and it is the sort head head-scratching mistake you wouldn’t expect a billion-dollar sports organization to make.
A couple of weeks ago it was announced that the 49ers would lose their fifth-round pick next year, and also be forced to the back of the compensatory pick line in round four this year after they made some sort of clerical error that broke NFL rules.
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When the news made headlines it was unclear what the organization did that landed them such a stiff punishment from the league. Well, on Monday 49ers GM John Lynch explained to the media at the annual offseason owners meeting what happened and it was the sort of payroll bungle that might happen at a small company with a staff of 20 instead of a professional football team that oversees hundreds.
“It was a clerical error — there was a new system in place. We own our part,” Lynch said. “We went through a whole mitigation issue. But the league decided to impose that, so you take your medicine and move on. That’s where our culpability was. So we’ve learned from that.”
Lynch said the team overpaid a player $75,000, however, he did not mention who the player was nor if the member of the roster reimbursed the team for the extra money. Any payment an organization makes to an athlete must be promptly told to the NFL as every dollar spent is accounted for.
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