Albert Breer spoke with San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch for his Monday-morning feature for Sports Illustrated. Part of the conversation surrounded the 49ers' move from No. 31 overall to No. 25 to grab wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. It was a move that came with more stress than you might first imagine.
First, here is some context. The 49ers already knew that their Pro Bowl left tackle, Joe Staley, was calling it a career after 13 illustrious seasons—which, for obvious reasons, was being kept under wraps.
Lynch had been exchanging calls with Washington head coach Ron Rivera about potentially trading for Trent Williams. The 49ers had hoped to get a deal done before the start of the draft, but with other teams in play, Rivera wanted to wait.
Twelve picks earlier, San Francisco decided to trade down one spot and acquired a fourth-rounder in the process, further adding to their potential trade equity to add Williams. Then the decision came to trade with the Minnesota Vikings to move up to No. 25. That fourth-rounder was part of the deal.
To make matters more stressful, Lynch and the 49ers were well aware that other teams were interested in Williams, too. Among those teams...
"Also, we knew Minnesota was in on Trent. Did we just arm them with the ammunition they needed to go get him? Like, Oh, gosh," Lynch told Breer. "That thought went into it as well."
San Francisco was always a preferred destination for Williams. There were reports that the offensive lineman had refused to play for Minnesota.
"As far as the trade goes, there was not necessarily a veto from me," Williams said last week. "I think the Vikings, long-term, and what I looked at long-term, it didn't sync up. They just really dropped out. It wasn't me refusing to go."
Things ended up working out for both Williams and the 49ers. But for a while, Lynch had thought the move to draft Aiyuk might have cost them Williams. The 49ers gambled and won.
"This was a preferred destination of mine just because of the familiarity I have with Kyle and the offense," Williams added. "Obviously, it being an ascending team, I felt like I'd fit right in."
