2014 NFL draft: San Francisco 49ers could move up in first round
General manager Trent Baalke (left) has been aggressive in the first round before. (Paul Sakuma/AP)
The Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons have grabbed headlines as the teams with the resources to trade up in the top 10 and provide some drama early in the 2014 NFL draft, but farther down the first round, the San Francisco 49ers could also be poised to make a dramatic move.
San Francisco has a surplus of picks in this year's draft and only a few glaring holes on the roster to fill, giving general manager Trent Baalke the flexibility to trade quantity for quality if he can find a willing partner on draft day.
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Because of that, ESPN's Chris Mortensen has hinted that the 49ers could make a big move to leap up and select Texas A&M wide receiver Mike Evans, and Baalke did nothing to dispel that chatter at his pre-draft press conference, according to ESPN's Bill Williamson.
"The answer is the same every year: Do we have the ammunition to make a jump to go get somebody? Yes. Are we motivated to do that? Depends," Baalke said. "There's so many factors that go into it when you're sitting at 30. Where do you need to go when you're targeting somebody? You saw us last year make a move to go get somebody. Will we do that this year? I don't know. I may know but I'm not going to tell you.
"It's something we're still working on. We're not there yet. There are players we certainly like. We're trying to determine where they may go, how high we may need to go if we so choose. If we stay, are we prepared to make a pick? If we stay, are we prepared to make the pick? Could we move back? That's always a possibility when you're sitting at 30. There's a lot of different ways we could go."
