The San Francisco 49ers have built one of the NFL’s strongest teams, nurturing local talent while making the necessary additions through trades and free agency to establish themselves as a consistent contender.
However, as players age and earn second contracts, the 49ers are forced to choose between paying their current players and bringing in younger players at specific spots in order to remain wage limit compliant.
They’ve already began to feel the effects, having lost longstanding defensive tackle Arik Armstead this offseason, and additional decisions could be made next offseason, with a number of major free players scheduled to enter the open market in 2025.
The 49ers’ previous two offseasons have been odd, as they’ve struggled to connect with a number of their draft picks while also operating at a disadvantage, having been without a first-round pick since 2021.
Nonetheless, they have found an immediate contributor in both courses.
As a result, the 49ers may not look to take 10 draft picks, which could lead to some movement up and down the board as they approach the 2024 NFL Draft.
“We have to be smart with that in terms of how we allocate our resources. We have ten picks,” Lynch said on Monday ahead of the draft.
“You start asking yourself how many of those can make our team and how do we want to approach that, and that’s, that’s part of what makes this whole thing so fun and enjoyable, but, I do think a strength of this draft, to me, a lot of premium positions are strong, and so that’s exciting.”
Among the premium positions that have a lot of talent, especially at the top, is offensive line, where we could see double-digit selections occur within the first round itself on Thursday.
Lynch acknowledged the team’s interest in the position group, while noting that several top players in the class share that coveted versatility.
“I think it’s good tackles, it’s good linemen,” Lynch said of the draft class. “And the interesting thing with those linemen in this draft, we think a lot of them have flexibility to be tackles and/or guards.
“And so that’s nice that you take somebody with some versatility. You know, I think there are some options and, you know, part of the draft is: you’re not always drafting for the immediate, you know, sometimes it’s drafting for future needs. And so we have to be cognizant of that.”
The 49ers could look to address the offensive line by bringing in competition at either tackle, guard, or even center, with the hopes of battling for a starting spot in 2024 or even looking ahead to 2025 when the group could look considerably different.
Overall, though, it’ll be important for San Francisco to grab at least one impact player over their first three selections. Looking at the last few Super Bowl winners, each team has seen at least one of their rookies play a considerable role, while the 49ers themselves have developed a few players in that department.
Facing some serious potential changes, however, in 2025, the 49ers need to start hitting on their draft picks, making the 2024 NFL Draft even more crucial for the organization after the team’s struggles over the last two drafts.