We learned several weeks ago that the 49ers were willing to make Alabama LB Reuben Foster the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft if edge rushers Myles Garrett and Solomon Thomas were already off the board. Ultimately, of course, San Francisco grabbed Thomas with the No. 3 overall selection and dealt its No. 34 and No. 111 overall picks to Seattle to move up to No. 31 and select Foster, the third-ranked player on its board.
But as Peter King of The MMQB writes in his piece detailing 49ers GM John Lynch‘s 24 hours up to and during the draft, Lynch and Co. were trying to land Foster long before that. The team did not believe Foster would fall past Baltimore’s selection at No. 16, as the Ravens had an apparent need at middle linebacker and Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome has a perceived proclivity for selecting Alabama players. The 49ers therefore offered Baltimore a second-, third-, and fourth-round selection to move up to No. 16, and Newsome countered with the second-rounder and both of the 49ers’ third-rounders.
The 49ers declined, but they kept trying. They offered the same package they offered to Baltimore to the Redskins, who held the No. 17 overall selection, but Washington declined as well (for what it’s worth, John Keim of ESPN.com says Redskins head coach Jay Gruden was unaware of the trade proposal, but it’s likely that team president Bruce Allen would have rejected the deal before it reached Gruden anyway). Lynch also called the Giants before they made their No. 23 overall choice, but he was rebuffed by New York GM Jerry Reese. Lynch finally, and unexpectedly, got his man eight picks later.
We now know that Foster could miss the entire 2017 season due to a shoulder injury, so it’s not surprising that he fell as far as he did on draft night (his watered-down urine sample and pre-draft argument with a hospital worker did not help his cause either). And, as our Dallas Robinson pointed out in the post linked above, it’s not a great look for Lynch and the 49ers staff that they were willing to use the third overall pick — or to trade significant draft assets to get back into the middle of the first round — for a player who ultimately fell to the end of Round 1.
However, by getting Foster in the first round, they can keep him under contract for five years, so it will be easier for them to treat 2017 as a medical redshirt season if necessary. Plus, if Foster can stay healthy, he and Thomas could form a fearsome duo in the middle of San Francisco’s defense for years.