OverTheCap.com’s Nick Korte, who does the compensatory pick calculation each year, released this article back on May 6th, showing that the 49ers should get 3 compensatory picks, with the potential for 5 total picks.
Korte has the 49ers receiving 1 special minority hiring 3rd-round compensatory pick for the losses of both DeMeco Ryans, who became the Houston Texans head coach in 2023, & Ran Carthon, who became the Tennessee Titans general manager in 2023, along with a 5th-round pick for losing quarterback Sam Darnold, who signed a 1-year, $10 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason, and a 7th-round pick for losing tight end Charlier Woerner, who signed a 3-year, $12 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons this offseason.
With these 3 projected 2025 compensatory picks, & the fact that the 49ers have been docked a 2025 5th-round pick for a clerical error, the 49ers are projected to have 0 picks in the 2025 draft, with them listed below.
1st-round pick (Own)
2nd-round pick (Own)
3rd-round pick (Own)
3rd-round pick (Special Compensatory Pick for losing DeMeco Ryan & Ran Carthon)
4th-round pick (Own)
5th-round pick (Compensatory Pick for losing Sam Darnold)
6th-round pick (Own)
7th-round pick (Own)
7th-round pick (Compensatory Pick for losing Charlie Woerner)
Now, the 49ers could see up to 2 more 7th-round compensatory picks added to their projected 2025 haul, but there is a catch, which I’ll explain below.
The first potential 7th-round pick could come from the signing of cornerback Isaac Yiadom, who signed a 1-year, $3 million deal, but he only has a $1.9 million cap number for 2024, due in part to his deal having 4 voidable years, which is a reason why the 49ers expected 2024 3rd-round pick for losing neither Jimmy Garoppolo or Mike McGlinchey only gained them a 2024 4th-round pick, due to the fact that because of the voidable years in one of those contracts changing the APY, better known as average per year number.
So, if Yiadom ends up not counting against the 49ers compensatory picks formula as a CFA(Compensatory Free Agent) addition, then the 49ers would receive a 7th-rounder for losing defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day, who signed a 1-year, $4 million deal with the Tennessee Titans, so if Yiadom doesn’t count, then the 49ers would likely get a 7th-rounder.
Now, the 49ers can also get another 7th-round compensatory pick for the loss of wide receiver/return specialist Ray-Ray McCloud III, who signed a 2-year, $5 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons, and this one is depended on McCloud actually counting as a CFA loss, which as of now he doesn’t, but Korte says if he does count as a loss, then the 49ers would likely get another 7th-rounder, giving the 49ers 5 total compensatory picks, 1 of them being the minority hiring special compensatory picks, & 4 regular compensatory picks for losing qualifying free agents, with 4 being the maximum allowed for a team to receive.
If this happens, then the 49ers would have the following 11 draft picks in 2025.
1st-round pick (Own)
2nd-round pick (Own)
3rd-round pick (Own)
3rd-round pick (Special Compensatory Pick for losing DeMeco Ryan & Ran Carthon)
4th-round pick (Own)
5th-round pick (Compensatory Pick for losing Sam Darnold)
6th-round pick (Own)
7th-round pick (Own)
7th-round pick (Compensatory Pick for losing Charlie Woerner)
7th-round pick (Compensatory Pick for losing Sebastian Joseph-Day)
7th-round pick (Compensatory Pick for losing Ray-Ray McCloud III)
Either way, the 49ers will have plenty of draft capital to use either during the 2024 season to acquire someone, like they did the past 2 seasons(2022 with Christian McCaffrey, & 2023 with Chase Young), or they could use some of the draft capital for 2025 to either trade for a player in the offseason(like the 49ers did this offseason to get Maliek Collins), or in the draft itself, which the 49ers did when they traded up in the 3rd-round, & 4th-round to pick left guard Dominick Puni, & running back Isaac Guerendo, respectively.
If you’re not already following OverTheCap.com’s Nick Korte, you better, as he’s the go-to guy when it comes to projecting compensatory picks each year, and you can follow him on X/Twitter @nickkorte.
Thanks for reading, and follow me on X/Twitter @49erscap.
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