The San Francisco 49ers received five compensatory draft picks for the 2024 NFL draft.
The 49ers received a third-round pick, a fourth-round pick, a fifth-round pick and two sixth-round picks. Their third-round pick was awarded to them for the departures of defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans and executive Ran Carthon.
The NFL awards compensatory picks to teams that incur a net loss of compensatory free agents or if certain staff members leave. When a minority executive or coach is lost to a promotion with another team, the team they left is granted a third-round compensatory pick for two years.
Fans are upset that a team that performed as well as the San Francisco 49ers are getting more draft picks
Even though compensatory draft picks have nothing to do with on-field performance, many fans are still upset that a team that went to the Super Bowl is allowed to nearly double the number of picks they have in the 2024 NFL Draft.
This misconception comes from the fact that on-field performance directly affects the position of NFL teams in the draft. The team with the worst record gets the first pick (if they didn’t trade it away) and the team that wins the Super Bowl gets the last pick.
Compensatory picks have nothing to do with this and are only awarded to teams based on free agent/coach/executive losses. The system is meant to help maintain parity in the NFL, but fans seem to think it is not doing a great job.
There should be a limit to this. They have taken advantage of this every year since it’s inception Their organization has turned into a literal carousel for minority workers They just got almost as many compensatory. Picks, as the seahawks have total this year ridiculous
— Bobby (@hawksfan12th) March 8, 2024
The rich get richer
— Patrick Tibbetts (@New_Legend24) March 8, 2024
They do anything for these guys to win
— Chris (@ItzCxris) March 8, 2024
rigged
— just give it to pacheco (@FeedPacheco) March 8, 2024
The San Francisco 49ers have not made good use of a lot draft picks in recent years, but they’ve hit big on some late-round picks
Despite whether the draft picks were compensatory or just regular draft picks, the San Francisco 49ers have had a rough few years in the draft, with a few exceptions.
In their most recent draft, safety Ji’Ayir Brown and kicker Jake Moody were the only two players who were able to make significant contributions to the team.
In 2022, a relatively poor draft was overshadowed by the very last pick in the draft, who ended up being quarterback Brock Purdy. This draft pick shows that these compensatory draft picks can end up being franchise-changing, despite being a third-round draft pick at the earliest.
Going to be really interesting to look back at the #49ers 2022 & 2023 draft classes in a year or two. These are the drafts that the Trey Lance trade effected.
Obviously, as of now, Brock Purdy is the crown jewel, but did SF get enough impact players? Time will tell. pic.twitter.com/CdQ0Hx8Z9d
— Al Sacco (@AlSacco49) August 27, 2023
In 2021, the San Francisco 49ers missed big on their first-round draft pick as they selected Trey Lance, who is now a backup quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. That being said, they drafted key contributions Deommodore Lenoir, Talanoa Hufanga and Elijah Mitchell with late-round draft picks.
49ers 2021 draft class is looking mighty nice. Yielded 5 starting caliber players by my count. A couple of them could be stars. pic.twitter.com/C1ljqwtPha
— Danny G (@DannyG_49) October 5, 2022
While the 49ers haven’t exactly killed it in the most recent drafts, they have proven they can be dangerous with the late-round draft picks that end up in their hands.
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