The San Francisco 49ers have finalized their ten draft picks for the 2017 NFL Draft, and the PR team posted the final list. There had been some confusion on my part, as I thought the team had 11 picks including two seventh rounders. The 49ers gained the Cleveland Browns seventh (No. 1 in the round) in the Andy Lee trade, and at one point held their own seventh at No. 2.
However, it turns out, the 49ers sent their seventh to Washington as part of the Derek Carrier trade. Back in 2015, the 49ers traded Carrier to Washington for an undisclosed draft pick. It was subsequently reported to be a fifth rounder coming back to the 49ers. However, it turns out the trade had a performance requirement. Carrier played 12 games in 2015, but only eight in 2016. The 49ers still got the fifth round pick, but due to the decreased playing time, the 49ers had to send back their seventh.
I was doing some poking around on the trade, and it reminded me of that very random period back in 2015. The 49ers made the Carrier trade on August 21. Three days prior, on August 18, the 49ers traded another tight end. They sent Asante Cleveland to the New England Patriots for Jordan Devey. The Patriots released Cleveland in September, and signed him to the practice squad. He joined the Patriots 53-man roster in late November, but was release a few weeks later. Even with limited time, I’d say the Patriots still came out ahead considering how awful Devey was for the 49ers.
The Cleveland side of this has no bearing on anything at this point, but putting a bow on the Carrier trade reminded me of it. It was an odd time with the 49ers having a lot of tight ends on the roster, even if they were mostly not particularly good.
Here is the full list of 49ers draft picks this year.
1. First round: Own - No. 2
2. Second round: Own - No. 2 (34 overall)
3. Third round: Own - No. 2 (66 overall)
4. Fourth round: Own - No. 2 (109 overall)
5. Fourth round: Comp pick - No. 37 (143 overall)
6. Fifth round: Own - No. 2 (146 overall)
7. Fifth round: Washington (Derek Carrier trade) - No. 17 (161 overall)
8. Sixth round: Own - No. 2 (186 overall)
9. Sixth round: Denver Broncos (Vernon Davis trade) - No. 18 (202 overall)
10. Seventh round: Cleveland Browns (Andy Lee trade) - No. 1 (219 overall)