BuffaloRebound

This was probably Beane’s most disciplined draft even though it sounds like he was trying to move up for Bishop. The roster needed to get younger and cheaper. He really did a nice job there to the point where despite what he’s saying I could see Beane going after an Aiyuk type WR post June 1.

Walking away with 7 of Jeremiah’s top 117 players when we started with 2 top 100 picks just might be Beane’s best work as a GM short of landing Josh. https://www.nfl.com/news/best-prospects-available-in-the-2024-nfl-draft

We got 7 of Dan Jeremiah’s top 117 prospects. I get it that people are still butt-hurt about losing Diggs and Beane didn’t take the WR they wanted, but this was a really nice draft and we have a lot of draft capital in 2025.

If we still had diggs or trade for a Metcalf/Aiyuk after June 1, the outlook looks totally different. The only question mark would be Von giving us what Floyd did. Coleman/samuel are upgrades over Gabe and Harty/Sherfield. Van Pran will be better than Morse sooner than later. Bishop/KC safety are upgrades over over 33 year old Poyer and Hyde. Got younger at RB and DT.

If nothing else, Beane got a giant pair of brass ones.

I’ll tell you after today.

I actually think that trade was to buy time to either trade for a vet WR or trade back again from 33. Now that the 49ers got who they wanted, they might be ready to move Aiyuk or deebo.

Trade back with washington for a 3rd. They need a tackle. Guyton only one left. trade back 8 spots and still get a good WR.

Jax taking a WR at pick 23

Worthy gonna go the Colts

Worthy probably doesn’t make it to pick 28. I think Worthy or Thomas are the pick if we stay at 28. If they’re both gone, it means Nix/Penix or one of the OT’s are still available at 28 and we trade back.

I think Nabers has not insignificant bust potential and I think Bowers vs Odunze is a coin flip. After the QB’s, my big board would be Harrison, then Bowers/Odunze, then Nabers.

I don’t think he lasts that long. I could see the Chargers taking him at 5 if Harrison goes at 4. Giants should take him at 6, same with Titans at 7. If he makes it to 8, then I could see Colts trading up with Atlanta. Same with Bears at 9.

I think Bowers is a steal for anybody outside the top 5 and it wouldn’t surprise me if he goes before at least 1 of the big 3 WR’s

NFL ownership is a pretty good place to park $1Billion and be almost guaranteed to to get a good return on that $1B. For Pegula, he gets a nice chunk of cash, maintains control, and gets another billionaire with some skin in the game in Western NY.

Interesting looking at Beane’s comments now about the 2023 draft. I’m thinking we already have a trade lined up for a 2025 pick for a vet like Metcalf and we’d prefer a trade back from 28 to recoup a 3rd round pick.

Kind of amazing we got Kincaid where we got him in a draft that was lacking talent at the top.

Anybody remember how many guys last year Beane thought had a 1st round grade?

It’s $23m in dead cap since his $13m 2024 salary would be traded to acquiring team. They’d save 1.5m in cap space. New coach who probably wants to instill winning culture this year with Geno Smith then draft a QB next year. They already have Lockett and Smith-Njigba at WR. Makes sense for them to unload Metcalf for some 2025 draft capital like McBeane did their 1st year. They’re not winning a Super Bowl this year and Metcalf might not be in their long term plans.

Metcalf makes the most sense of any of the trade for a vet options especially if he’s not asking for a new deal. He might be cool with 2 years with Josh then hit the open market again at age 28. 2 years $31m doesn’t break the bank. Plus Seattle most likely wants draft capital for next year when they’re most likely drafting a QB. A 5th this year and a 2nd next year. Metcalf, Shakir, Samuel, 2nd/3rd round rookie, Kincaid, Knox, Cook is an upgrade over Josh’s skill position players last year.

One things for sure, Beane certainly has everybody guessing. Guess it makes it harder for other teams to sense desperation when a trade for a vet, a trade up in 1st round or sit tight at 28 are all believable scenarios.

Interesting article especially about teams not wanting to give WR’s long term deals. That would suggest Metcalf would be more desirable than Aiyuk and it might be cheaper draft capital wise to get them than people think.

Counterpoint is Beane left room in Josh’s and Miller’s restructure to cover Aiyuk’s $14m if he wanted to. And Beane has historically operated that way where he doesn’t clear the cap space until he needs it. Additionally I doubt San Fran would sell us cap space but trading Aiyuk would put them at $21m under the cap, and it seems like Beane and Lynch spent some time together trying to get the League to change their comp picks.

Sometimes there’s crumbs out there on social media that get discounted as nonsense. A lot of times it is. I could be completely wrong but I think there’s a lot of crumbs out there that add up to a deal being in place for Aiyuk. There’s no way Miller posts that 12 days before the draft without knowing it isn’t happening. The only way he’d know that isn’t happening is if there’s a deal in place for a vet like Aiyuk. Aiyuk unfollowing the 49ers could be nothing but so could’ve Diggs passive-aggressive cryptic posts. I’m sure there’s a lot of people who will roll their eyes especially the ones who want Diggs replaced in this draft, but there’s crumbs out there pointing to Aiyuk.

Counterpoint is that it took Aiyuk 3 years to become that dude. We can’t afford to waste 2-3 years of prime Josh waiting on somebody to develop into WR 1. Plus Aiyuk thrived in a ball control, RB utilized offense where he still put up big numbers without a huge number of targets.