What it’s going to cost the 49ers to trade up on Day 2 of the draft

With nine picks in the 2022 draft, the 49ers appear to be well-positioned to trade up in the draft to ensure that they land a player that they covet.

Some extremely enticing prospects are projected to come off the board somewhere near the top end of the second round. Think of players like Arnold Ebiketie, Nik Bonitto, Jaquan Brisker, Christian Watson, etc.

If the 49ers want a realistic shot at moving up and grabbing one of these players, they are going to have to jump up from where they are currently slated to pick at 61. So what exactly is it going to cost to make that kind of move and leap up 15-20 spots in the draft order?

The 49ers made a jump like this early on Day 2 in 2018 when they traded picks 59 & 74 to the Washington Commanders in exchange for pick 44, where they selected wide receiver Dante Pettis.

While the 49ers don’t have the same package to offer this season, they still have an extra third-round pick at 105. Unfortunately, there is not much precedent in recent drafts for a team making a jump 20-plus spots in the second round, so I’d be hesitant to expect the 49ers to be the ones to break that mold.

A big leap into the late 30s is probably out of the question, but moving up ten spots or so is absolutely on the table for the 49ers.

Some kind of combination of pick 61 paired with either 93 & 105 is certainly within the realm of possibility when discussing realistic trade scenarios in a potential bid to move up the draft order. Just recently, in 2020, the New England Patriots jumped up 11 spots from 71 to 60, at the cost of sending picks 71 & 98 to Baltimore. They also netted a 4th round pick in return from the Ravens in this deal.

In recent years, a similar deal near this range was in 2020 when Seattle gave up picks 59 & 101 to move up 11 slots to pick 48. Another similar transaction occurred in the same draft when the Patriots moved up 11 spots from 56 to 45 at the cost of pick 101.

Remember, the 49ers' ace up their sleeve is the compensatory third-round pick, the 105th pick in the 2022 draft.

A pairing of pick 61 & 105 could be exactly the ammo the 49ers need to make that jump up ten or so spots. This would allow them to erase any chance of missing on a player they covet who fell into that range while also knowing even after the deal. They still would have a selection in the third round at pick 93.

But what if they would rather make the jump from pick 93 and land somewhere between there and their initial selection at 61. Just last year, the Saints sent picks 98 & 105 to Denver in exchange for the 76th pick. The 49ers could offer better compensation than that with their pair of third-rounders this year if they have aspirations of jumping 20 or so spots into the mid-70s.

Just last season, we saw the 49ers trade picks 117 & 121 to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for pick 88, where they selected running back Trey Sermon.

While the 49ers only have one pick in round four this go around, they could still likely package that selection at 134 with their pick at 105 in a deal to move up in that range. This would be extremely important to have in your back pocket if you had any plans to include your pick at 93 in a deal to move up earlier in the draft.

The 49ers have the assets to make a reasonable move up from any of the three positions they are projected to pick at on day two. Therefore, moving up becomes a very appealing option with the flexibility of knowing no matter what pick you part with, you will still likely be making two of the three selections you were originally slated to make on day two.

To help paint a better picture of what it’s going to cost the 49ers to move around on day two, I went back and took a closer look at the last three drafts. I then recorded all of the trade-ups on day two from each draft, which is listed below, starting with the 2021 season.

2021 Draft

• Broncos traded picks 40 & 114 to Falcons in exchange for picks 35 & 219
• Patriots traded picks 46, 122, & 139 to Bengals in exchange for pick 38
• Bears traded picks 52, 83, & 204 to Panthers in exchange for picks 39 & 151
• Dolphins traded pick 50 & 2022 3rd round pick to Giants in exchange for pick 42
• Raiders traded picks 48 & 121 to 49ers in exchange for picks 43 & 230
• Browns traded picks 59 & 89 to Panthers in exchange for picks 52 & 113
• Panthers trade picks 73 & 191 to Eagles in exchange for pick 70
• Giants trade picks 76 & 164 to Broncos in exchange for pick 71
• Saints traded picks 98 & 105 to Broncos in exchange for pick 76
• Packers traded picks 92 & 135 to Titans in exchange for pick 85
• 49ers traded picks 117 & 121 to the Rams in exchange for pick 88

2020 Draft

• Colts traded picks 44 & 160 to Browns in exchange for pick 41
• Seahawks trade picks 59 & 101 to Jets in exchange for pick 48
• Patriots trade picks 71 & 98 to Ravens in exchange for picks 60 & 129
• Panthers trade picks 69 & 148 to Seahawks in exchange for pick 64
• Saints trade picks 88 & 91 to Browns in exchange for picks 74 & 244
• Lions trade picks 85, 149, & 182 to Colts in exchange for picks 75 & 197
• Patriots trade picks 100, 129, & 172 to Raiders in exchange for picks 91 & 159
• Patriots trade picks 125, 129, & 186 to Jets in exchange for pick 101
• Saints trade picks 130, 169, 203, & 244 to Vikings in exchange for pick 105

2019 Draft

• Jaguars trade picks 38 & 109 to Raiders in exchange for picks 35, 140, & 235
• Panthers trade picks 47 & 77 to Seahawks in exchange for pick 37
• Bills trade picks 40 & 158 to Raiders in exchange for pick 38
• Broncos trade picks 52, 125, & 182 to Bengals in exchange for pick 42
• Patriots trade picks 56 & 101 to Rams in exchange for pick 45
• Browns trade picks 49 & 144 to Colts in exchange for pick 46
• Saints traded picks 62, 202, & 2020 2nd round pick to Dolphins in exchange for picks 48 & 116
• Chiefs traded picks 61 & 167 to Rams in exchange for pick 56
• Seahawks traded picks 77 & 118 to Patriots in exchange for pick 64
• Rams traded picks 94 & 99 to Buccaneers in exchange for pick 70
• Bears traded picks 87, 162, and 2020 4th round pick to Patriots in exchange for picks 73 & 205
• Lions traded picks 88 & 204 to Vikings in exchange for pick 81
• Seahawks traded picks 92 & 159 to Vikings in exchange for picks 88 & 209
• Jets traded picks 93 & 217 to Vikings in exchange for pick 92
• Ravens traded picks 102, 192, & 193 to Vikings in exchange for pick 93
• Bills traded picks 112 & 131 to Commanders in exchange for pick 96
• Rams traded picks 101 & 133 to Patriots in exchange for picks 97 & 162
• Bengals trade picks 110 & 183 to 49ers in exchange for pick 104
• Saints trade picks 116 & 168 to Jets in exchange for pick 105