SANTA CLARA — Of course, the 49ers would like to move back and accumulate more selections in the 2025 NFL Draft.
But 49ers president of football operations/general manager John Lynch does not believe that idea makes him unique among NFL decision-makers.
Watch NBC Bay Area News free wherever you are
WATCH HERE“I feel like there’s a lot of people trying to go that way because of the quality of starters that run deep into this draft,” Lynch said on Tuesday during his annual pre-draft availability at Levi’s Stadium.
“And generally when everybody wants to do the same thing, there’s not as much opportunity.”
There has yet to be a trade involving a first-round draft pick. Lynch said he believes there will not be many trades struck on Thursday, the first day of the draft.
The 49ers own the No. 11 overall pick, and they have a long list of needs after the team lost a lot of starters and key contributors at the outset of the free-agent signing period.
Lynch said his inclination is for the 49ers to select the highest-graded players — regardless of the urgency of the team’s positional need.
San Francisco 49ers
“You have to address your roster at some point,” Lynch said. “But I do know that, especially in the first round, we have a relatively high pick, you can’t go wrong picking a quality player.
“And if that isn’t a glaring need on your team, that’s all right, because this player is going to end up playing for you and contributing and hopefully moving the needle.”
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news with the Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
SIGN UP The 49ers’ most-obvious needs are at defensive tackle and defensive end. They could use help throughout their roster, including offensive line, linebacker and defensive back.
But Lynch indicated that the 49ers' list of possible positions for the first round is wide open.
The 49ers enter the draft with a scheduled 11 selections. They have four picks within the first 100 selections and four more draft slots within the next 60.
Lynch said he believes there will be starters available into Day 3 of the draft, when the fourth-through-seventh rounds are held.
On the 49ers’ draft board, San Francisco has 20 players rated with first-round grades, Lynch said. In the past two years, the 49ers rated 23 and 15 players, respectively, as first-rounders.
The 49ers’ entire draft board consists of 200 players with draftable grades, Lynch said. Last year, the 49ers had 170 players listed as worthy of being drafted.
“That speaks to the depth of this draft,” Lynch said.
