2020 NFL Draft: Why San Francisco 49ers should trade down

The San Francisco 49ers have very little capital to work with in the 2020 NFL Draft, and the reigning NFC champions should look to trade down.

The San Francisco 49ers are coming off a gut-wrenching Super Bowl loss but, with a young and talented roster and one of the NFL’s premier play-callers as head coach, appear set up for long-term success. In the immediate future, however, the Niners have a problem pertaining to the 2020 NFL Draft. San Francisco will go into the draft with just six picks in this year’s draft, with the 49ers’ first-rounder their only selection in the first two days.

The 49ers are in this situation because of the trades they made in 2019. San Francisco sent its second-rounder to the Kansas City Chiefs for Dee Ford and dealt its third and fourth-round selections to the Denver Broncos for Emmanuel Sanders.

Though the 49ers did not win Super Bowl LIV, those deals were still vindicated. Ford and Sanders each played vital roles in San Francisco getting within minutes of lifting the Lombardi Trophy, and the former will be a crucial part of a ferocious pass rush for years to come.

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Still, the lack of picks on day two is an issue for San Francisco. There are not many holes on the Niners’ roster, but their problems are enough that another strong rookie class is required to maximize their hopes of getting back to the Super Bowl in the 2020 season.

If the Niners do not re-sign Sanders, they will have little in the way of reliable options at wide receiver. The cornerback spot across from Richard Sherman remains a position where the 49ers do not have a definitive solution, while their weakness on the interior of the offensive line was exposed in the Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs.

Holes could also open at safety and on San Francisco’s deep defensive line if Jimmie Ward and Arik Armstead depart for pastures new.

Unless an elite prospect falls to 31, staying at that pick and selecting only once in the first two days is not the way for the Niners to attack those issues.

Instead, they should seek inspiration from their division rivals the Seattle Seahawks. In the 2019 draft, Seattle started with only four picks but — through eight trades – finished with 11 selections.

Who Seattle took with those choices is immaterial to the 49ers’ situation. It is the process that general manager John Schneider used in moving down the board to collect extra picks and get value that John Lynch should aim to replicate as San Francisco seeks to restock a championship roster.

Next. 2020 NFL Draft: Quarterbacks go quickly in 3-Round mock draft. dark

Trades played a critical role in the construction of the roster that got the Niners to the Super Bowl. A trade down in the draft should be pivotal to San Francisco’s plans to rebound after one of the most devastating losses in franchise history.