Upon learning that offensive tackle Joe Staley planned to retire, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan put more of an emphasis on trading for former Washington tackle Trent Williams. They were able to get that deal done, and Williams will replace Staley during the upcoming season.
It was very possible, however, that the 49ers might not have been able to pull off the trade. Shanahan revealed on Saturday that the team had a backup plan if they couldn't land Williams.
"One thing that was really cool was that, if the Washington thing didn't go through, one of our Plan Bs was to try to draft Colton (McKivitz) there in the fourth round," Shanahan explained. "And then we made that risk to [trade that pick] to go up to get the receiver (Brandon Aiyuk in the first round) that we wanted.
"And then we did end up getting Trent. And to still be able to get [McKivitz] in the fifth round was a hell of a deal. We felt really excited about how today went."
The 49ers selected McKivitz, an offensive tackle out of West Virginia, with the No. 153 overall pick, and now have both him and Williams. The selection was acquired by trading running back Matt Breida to the Miami Dolphins.
"We just felt like, at that point, it was a good move for us to make," Lynch added.
It looks like Lynch and Shanahan gambled in that situation and won.
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