John Lynch, general manager of the San Francisco 49ers with former head coach John Fox of the Chicago Bears (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
The 49ers haven’t been strangers to trading away their top pick in the NFL Draft, and these four trade partners could call John Lynch this April.
In 2017, the San Francisco 49ers famously (or infamously, if your team was on the other end) traded down from the No. 2 overall pick to No. 3 overall in a deal with the Chicago Bears. While the Niners’ selection of defensive end Solomon Thomas that year didn’t exactly pan out, one of the picks gained from Chicago was subsequently used to grab All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner the following year.
So, that worked out well enough.
Then in 2020, San Francisco dropped from No. 13 overall in the draft to No. 14 via a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which landed general manager John Lynch and Co. South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw.
With the No. 12 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, there’s enough evidence to suggest Lynch would be willing to trade again, perhaps even up in the draft if the right scenario presented itself. Or, given the 49ers’ limited salary-cap situation, currently, Lynch might trade down in order to land a bigger number of cheaper first-year players on rookie contracts.
Whichever direction seems plausible, here are four teams who could potentially call Lynch and the Niners about trading for the No. 12 overall pick.
49ers Trade Partner No. 4: Chicago Bears
Could Lynch end up fleecing the Bears again?
Perhaps. It would depend on the return, of course, but there’s an easy-to-understand scenario where Chicago would want to move up from No. 20 overall to the 12th overall selection.
The Bears are moving on from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky this offseason. And after yet another lackluster offensive season in Chicago, head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace are going to be under the microscope heading into 2021. If there ever was a time to be aggressive, likely involving a move to land one of the big names in an awfully top-heavy quarterbacking class, it’s now.
Chicago has each of its picks from Rounds 1 through 3, then fifth-, sixth- and seventh-round selections. It would at least take a first- and second-round pick for San Francisco to be interested. And perhaps Lynch would be able to squeeze another mid-round pick in 2022 to add to the array while taking advantage of Nagy and Pace’s desperation.