February Mock Plan (V2)

Principles:
- We invest in younger players with more economical contracts (e.g., rookies, budget deals, etc); meaning folks like Ward and Dre walk.
- 2-3 mid-tier FA additions and the rest will be budget buys
- No crazy trades in the draft; the sweet spot is going to be rounds 2 to early 4 IMO

49er Roster Moves:

Resign - Hufanga (1 yr, prove it), depth players (e.g., Bartch, Allen, Saubert), Mason (RFA), most ERFAs
Release - Juice, Brendel (June 1st designated)
Restructure - Gross-Matos
Extend - Purdy, Kittle

Free Agency Targets:

Mid-Tier Signings - Dalman (C, ATL), Jones (NT, DEN), Sherwood (LB, NYJ)
*Dalman and Jones are scheme fits on offense and defensive, respectively. Sherwood is an up and comer that proven he's worthy to start at WILL.

Budget Buys - Davis (S, NYJ), Echols (CB, NYJ), Nwangwu (RB/ST, NYJ), Dulin (WR/ST, IND), Wilson (QB, DEN), Joseph (K, NYJ)
*This is Boyer's stamp to elevate our ST units and provide depth. Wilson is a good alternative to Dobbs. Joseph is a vet to compete with Moody.

Pre-Draft Trades:

Drake Jackson for Evan Neal - T - Giants. Bust for bust. Both have been injured. Jackson may be better served in an OLB role that NY needs, and we leverage Neal as a swing developmental tackle. Let him shadow Trent Williams for a year, and we may have our successor at LT or RT.

Spencer Burford for Martin Emerson - CB - Browns. Emerson has tons of snaps, but he's had 2 bad years back to back. Given the Browns cap situation, they'll likely cut one of their starting guards. A change of scenery for both players is needed.


NFL Draft:

Trade - 49ers trade 1st and 3rd (comp) for Cowboys 1st and 3rd picks. DAL trades up for Jeanty, and we trade down one spot, but now have B2B 3rd rounders.

R1: Mike Green - EDGE - Marshall (via DAL)
*Twitchy, electric, and blazingly fast, Green will be a lethal pass rusher in year 1 that can bulk up and improve his form to be a 3 down DE by year 2. He's moving up draft boards, and don't be surprised to see his name mocked more often as a top 20 pick.

R2: Jonah Savaiinaea - T/G - Arizona
*This is going to be the sweet spot at finding our LG of the future. Size of a tackle, but lack of foot speed projects him as a G or RT. That being said, he's agile enough to be a top tier guard in our zone scheme, and a material upgrade to Banks.

R3: Shemar Turner - DT - Texas A&M
*3 down 3T that can be a run stuffer but also have more talent at going after the ball on passing downs. I think he can be a day 1 starter for us, and will see 40% snaps in his rookie year.

R3: Elijah Arroyo - TE - Miami (via DAL)
*Reminds me a bit of Delanie Walker. If Arroyo can improve his blocking skills, I think he can develop into a true offensive weapon to replace Juice. At worst, he's a receiving threat as TE #2 on our team.

R4: Jay Higgins - LB - Iowa
*Warner is getting up there in age, and we need to start keep him fresh with a rotation. Higgins is scheme specific, but perfect for our wide 9 LB duties for run and pass defense. I truly think he has enough talent to be our next Greenlaw, and will make an impact in year 1.

R4: Jordan Phillips - DT - Maryland (comp)
*0/1T that improves our run defense even further. Given DT run defense was a huge weakness, the combo of Jones, Turner and Phillips will fortify our iDL.

R4: Jabbar Muhammad - NB - Oregon (comp)
*Developmental DB that will mostly line up in the slot but can play some outside. Lots of our DBs (e.g., Lenior, Green, Echols) have inside and outside versatility, allowing Muhammad to purely focus on NB work.

R6: Drew Kendell - C - Boston College
*Depth never hurts, and Kendell can learn under Dalman who's a very smart and technically sound center.

R7: Kai Krueger - P - South Carolina
*It's time to find a replacement for an aging P with a costly contract.

R7: Mason Richman - T - Iowa (comp)
*Developmental PS candidate for LT depth.

Depth Chart:

QB: Purdy/Allen/Wilson*
RB: CMC/Mason/Guerendo/Nwangwu*
TE: Kittle/Arroyo*/Saubert

WR: Aiyuk/Pearsall
WR: Samuel/Cowing
WR: Jennings/Dulin*

LT: Williams/Neal*
LG: Savaiinaea*/Zakelj
C: Dalman/Kendell*
RG: Puni
RT: McKivitz/Heck

DE: Bosa/Matos/Beal
DT: Jones*/Phillips*/Elliott
DT: Turner*/Collins
DE: Green*/Floyd

LB: Warner/Higgins*
LB: Sherwood*/Winters/Bethune

CB: Green/Luter
CB: Lenior/Muhammad*
FS: Mustapha/Brown
SS: Hufanga/Davis*
CB: Emerson*/Echols*

ST: Moody (or Joseph), Krueger*, and Pepper

Nice moves to get younger

Why would NY or Browns make those trades?

like your draft picks. Not sure why Dallas moves up one spot? Also I like (don't love) Green. I agree with other draft analysts he's more Alex Highsmith than Khalil Mack for me.

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Why would NY or Browns make those trades?

like your draft picks. Not sure why Dallas moves up one spot? Also I like (don't love) Green. I agree with other draft analysts he's more Alex Highsmith than Khalil Mack for me.

They will be looking to replace Emerson due to poor performance, and he's on his last year on the rookie contract. So they would want something in return vs outright cut. We are in a similar situation as Burford hasn't developed. CLE needs to shed cap, so one of their starting Gs will be cut. As a result, this could be a win win for both teams based on needs and circumstances.


With NY, they retained their Hc and GM, and neither are happy with Neal. So again, try to get something from a compensation standpoint. They have a few EDGE FAs that they likely won't be retaining, so hence Jackson could be a fit here.


With Dallas, it's moving one spot up to get someone high up on their board. RB is a huge need and Jeanty is game changing. Jones has invested high draft picks before (Elliott), so I could see this happening as there are other RB needy teams like the Broncos that are in the market.

No Jaylon Moore?

Originally posted by ChaunceyGardner:

No Jaylon Moore?

Lots of teams need a starting left tackle. I think he'll be priced out of our range and he'll find a starting opportunity elsewhere.

Draft is pretty amazing! 👍

No way Arroyo lasts to the 3rd round.. hoerun draft though

Originally posted by lamontb:

No way Arroyo lasts to the 3rd round.. hoerun draft though

TEs in the first 3 rounds:

2024: 3

2023: 9

2022: 4

For 2025, we have guys like Warren, Loveland, Fannin, Helm, and Taylor that will go ahead and/or be at a similar tier to Arroyo.

Also remember that because the 2023 class is still on rookie deals, they may not have as much demand in 2025 draft.

Basically, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that he's available in the mid-3rd.

Drafting a punter? C'mon man.
Like the overall premise of getting younger. Like the early round picks and the free agent ideas. Gonna be tough to get the trades through, but I like the trade targets.