The San Francisco 49ers have been awarded a league-high five compensatory picks for the 2024 NFL Draft.
The league on Friday announced that it has given 34 compensatory picks to be added to this year’s draft, and no one did better than the 49ers.
Each year the league awards compensatory picks in Rounds 3-7 for players, coaches, and/or executives who leave their teams.
San Francisco 49ers Receive 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 2 6th-Round Picks
The 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams were the only two teams in the NFL this year to receive a third-round pick because of the rule that awards teams for developing minority candidates who move on as head coach or general manager for another team.
The Rams received their third-round pick as defensive coordinator Raheem Morris became the Atlanta Falcons head coach. The 49ers last year had DeMeco Ryans (Texans coach) and Ron Carthon (Titans GM) both leave, and they received their second compensatory pick for those signings this year.
The third-round pick from the 49ers though, is expected to go to the Washington Commanders as a part of the Chase Young deal from last season.
Compensatory Picks Have Been Very Good to the Team in Recent Seasons
To receive compensatory picks, generally, it means your franchise is doing things the right way. It means your players are playing well and earning big contracts, or members of your organization are going and getting coaching or general manager jobs for other teams.
While many times fans scoff when they hear their team got compensatory picks, the 49ers have done very well with these picks.
In 2021, quarterback C.J. Beathard signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars, leaving the 49ers. That same year, the 49ers made a blockbuster trade, as they traded three first-round picks to the Miami Dolphins to move up to No. 3 and take Trey Lance.
However, with Beathard leaving the team in 2021, the league awarded the 49ers with a seventh-round compensatory pick. With Lance struggling and eventually not working out in San Francisco, the 49ers decided to take a flier with that seventh-round pick.
With that pick they were given, the 49ers selected Brock Purdy with the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. Usually, the players that are drafted in the infamous “Mr. Irrelevant” spot are popular for a couple of weeks but rarely see playing time in the NFL.
However, for the 49ers, it allowed the team to make up for the terrible trade the team made in 2021. All that Purdy has done as the 49ers quarterback is take the team to the NFC Championship both seasons while taking the team to the Super Bowl.
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While Purdy has been sensational for the team, he isn’t the only compensatory pick who has become a huge part of the 49ers team recently. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga are two guys on the defensive side of the football that the team has gotten by way of compensatory picks.
Greenlaw was having an outstanding Super Bowl before he was injured, whereas Hufanga was injured in the middle of the season. He was named an All-Pro safety last year and was well on his way to another All-Pro type of season.
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