As a noted football philosopher nicknamed The Tuna was fond of reciting, ‘The NFL is a talent-acquisition business.’
John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan will vouch for that.
The San Francisco 49ers were at it again, acquiring another premium talent — Chase Young — just hours before the NFL’s trade deadline on Tuesday.
Maybe Young, hailed as the next coming of the late, great Reggie White when Washington drafted him out of Ohio State with the second pick in the 2020 draft, will never live up to those can’t-miss projections.
Yet Lynch and Shanahan, the 49ers’ aggressive GM-coach tandem, realize that it won’t happen for their team unless they give it a try. So, they shipped a third-round pick to Washington — whose GM, Martin Mayhew, was previously Lynch’s assistant GM — as draft capital well-spent.
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Call it another good gamble. A year ago, the 49ers cashed in their hand to obtain Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers. Look at how that’s turned out. Over the weekend, the versatile running back scored a touchdown in his 17th consecutive game. They also swung a trade with Washington in 2020 to land left tackle Trent Williams, who has only revived his All-Pro status as the anchor for one of the NFL’s best O-lines.
Landing Young, 24, follows a blueprint similar to the exchanges that brought McCaffrey and Williams to Santa Clara. He’s coming off injury issues. He’s expensive. And he was expendable, his former team seeking to re-stock through the draft.
The 49ers want to build with draft picks, too, but in a situation where they can undoubtedly smell another Super Bowl run after advancing to the NFC title game last season, there’s nothing quite like adding key pieces that might be the missing ingredients. Interestingly, the 49ers defense — one of the NFL’s best over the past few seasons — has come up light with its sack numbers in 2023.
Young, who was NFL defensive rookie of the year in 2020, is poised to help change that while reunited with his former Buckeyes teammate, Nick Bosa. On paper, the 49ers’ D-line is, well, about as talented as the unit that Young left in Washington. Until Tuesday, when the Commanders also dealt Montez Sweat to the Chicago Bears, Washington fielded a defensive line that featured four No. 1 picks.
Now Young’s joined forces with fellow first-rounders in Bosa and Arik Armstead, along with star D-tackle Javon Hargrave. And Randy Gregory, once considered a first-round talent derailed by multiple failed drug tests, is in the mix, too, after being obtained recently from the Broncos.
Like Young, Bosa was the second pick in the draft (2019) and NFL defensive rookie of the year. Like Young and Bosa, Williams was a top-five pick, snagged fourth overall in 2010. McCaffrey was drafted eighth overall in 2017. Now these premium picks have more in common with the 49ers.
With a bye this weekend, the 49ers are reeling. They have lost three consecutive games since starting at 5-0. But the Deadline Day move from the brain trust sent a distinct message: They are still the 49ers.
In other words, they are still not afraid to pull the trigger.
Remember back in 2017, when the 49ers had their first draft under Lynch’s watch? They traded back one slot in the first round, from second to third, and fleeced the Chicago Bears. The third-round pick in 2018 that was obtained as part of the package turned out to be linebacker Fred Warner, who is now one of the NFL’s best and most complete linebackers. Yes, they can work a parlay.
Lynch & Co. have complimented their wheeling and dealing on the trade market with deft drafting. The aforementioned Warner case was one example. They obtained star tight end George Kittle with a fifth-round pick in 2017. And the quarterback, Brock Purdy, was a seventh-round pick and last player drafted in 2022.
They don’t always get it right. San Francisco dealt a bundle to move up to the No. 3 slot in 2020 to draft quarterback Trey Lance. Turns out that Lance couldn’t beat out the last man drafted in 2022. But at least the 49ers salvaged a fourth-round pick from the Dallas Cowboys — almost the price paid to get Young — in cutting loose with Lance.
The trade action in the NFL has certainly intensified in recent years. It wasn’t too long ago when it was fashionable to note how dead quiet the NFL’s trade market was. Now this time of year wouldn’t be complete without some headline or alert that associates the 49ers with a ‘stunning trade.’
Done. Again. For better or for worse.
I mean, there’s nothing finer than a new 49er.