John Lynch said the first round of the NFL Draft was going to be boring, and it was. And there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that from the 49ers’ perspective. In fact, things ended up going pretty well for Kyle Shanahan’s bunch.
Deebo Samuel is still here
Just typing that sentence brings a smile to my face. Despite mounting pressure from Samuel’s camp and at least one enticing offer, the 49ers stood firm and didn’t move their disgruntled superstar.
They’ve already done the hardest part. Now they have the entire rest of the offseason to work on repairing the relationship and, of course, paying the man his money. About that…
AJ Brown got traded…and paid
If you had told me going into the night that one of Tory Dandy’s wide receiver clients was going to get traded, I would not have put my money on AJ Brown. Nonetheless, the Eagles made the move of the night while also giving Brown a brand new contract.
Brown’s new deal is being reported as a 4-year agreement for $100 million, with $57 million guaranteed. That is now the ballpark for what Deebo’s next contract is going to look like. Regardless of how many mean tweets or Instagram stories Samuel posts, his new contract will look like this one – even if it doesn’t come from the 49ers.
All of the quarterbacks, actually. The Panthers were on the clock at six and had literally the entire draft’s worth of QBs available. Instead, they went the safer route and chose NC State tackle Ikem Ekwonu. Because they don’t have another pick until the fourth round (137 overall), it’s highly unlikely that they will move up and be able to get one of the remaining passers in this draft. Therefore, they now become the best destination for Jimmy Garoppolo.
There’s still a long way to go before all the dust settles, of course, but we could potentially be looking at a situation where Deebo Samuel ultimately signs a long term extension, the deck is cleared for Trey Lance to be the unquestioned starter, and the 49ers end up with extra draft picks in 2024. Not bad for a night of doing nothing.
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