49ers Awarded a Haul of Compensatory Picks in Upcoming NFL Draft
The NFL draft has gotten a lot more interesting for the San Francisco 49ers.
On Thursday, the NFL announced the number of compensatory draft picks that teams will be awarded for the upcoming draft in late April. The 49ers were awarded three third-round picks - Nos. 99, 101 and 102. How they attained these draft picks is from the hirings of DeMeco Ryans to Houston, Ran Carthon to Tennessee, Mike McDaniel to Miami, and Robert Saleh to New York.
Those three third-round compensatory picks were not the only ones awarded to the 49ers as they also gained picks in rounds five, six, and seven. A total of seven extra picks were added to the 49ers' stockpile, which gives them plenty of ammunition to trade up should they see fit.
Such a haul of picks is why the draft will become increasingly interesting with what the 49ers will do. Last year, they stood pat on all of their picks and didn't trade up or down. Perhaps that will change now that they have just shot up dramatically with resources.
Gaining all of these compensatory picks is thanks to the updated Rooney rule implemented by the NFL in Nov. 2020. Team owners approved a proposal rewarding teams who developed minority talent that went on to become GMs or head coaches across the league. If a team lost a minority executive or coach to another team, that team would receive a third-round compensatory pick for two years. If a team lost both a coach and personnel member, it would receive a third-round compensatory pick for three years.
No other team in the NFL has cashed in on this program than the 49ers. It speaks volumes to the abilities of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch with their knack for hiring. Most importantly, it shows how uplifting they are to coaches who are minorities. It is a wonderful thing to see and something that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
