The 49ers are projected to have 11 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, even after the acquisition of defensive end Chase Young on Tuesday.
San Francisco gave up its third-round special compensatory pick to the Washington Commanders in exchange for Young, a league source told NBC Sports Bay Area.
The 49ers have taken advantage of the NFL’s compensatory formula, and they could stand to benefit in the future with the addition of Young, too.
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The Commanders did not exercise Young's fifth-year option, so the 49ers will have him for the remainder of this season before he is scheduled for unrestricted free agency in March.
Then, the 49ers would stand to gain a compensatory pick in 2025 if Young signs elsewhere as a free agent.
The 2024 third-round draft pick the 49ers will send to Washington (assuming Young passes his physical on Wednesday), is expected to be somewhere near No. 100 overall.
San Francisco gained that “special compensatory” draft pick as part of the NFL’s program to encourage minority hiring practices. The 49ers received that draft pick when defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans and director of player personnel Ran Carthon left the organization in the offseason.
San Francisco 49ers
Ryans was hired as Houston Texans head coach, while Carthon became the Tennessee Titans’ general manager.
The 49ers are entitled to one more third-round pick for the losses of Ryans and Carthon in the 2025 NFL Draft.
San Francisco currently is in line to gain the maximum of four compensatory picks for net free-agent losses in the offseason.
Per to OverTheCap.com, the 49ers are estimated to pick up a third-round compensatory selection for losing Mike McGlinchey to Denver, a fifth-rounder for Samson Ebukam signing with Indianapolis, and sixth-round selections for Charles Omenihu (Kansas City) and Azeez Al-Shaair (Tennessee).
The NFL uses a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors to determine the value of free agents who switch teams. The compensatory valuations could change between now and when the NFL finalizes the draft order in March.
The 49ers have their own picks in each of the first four rounds of the draft, and they picked up an additional fourth-rounder with the August trade of quarterback Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys.
The 49ers do not hold their own picks in the fifth and sixth rounds. The fifth-round pick in 2024 goes to the Carolina Panthers to finish off the trade for Christian McCaffrey, and they dealt their sixth-round pick to the Denver Broncos for defensive end Randy Gregory and a seventh-round pick.
Here are the 49ers' projected picks in the 2024 NFL Draft:
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 3 (*Compensatory)
Round 4
Round 4 (via Dallas)
Round 5 (*Compensatory)
Round 6 (*Compensatory)
Round 6 (*Compensatory)
Round 7
Round 7 (Rams via Broncos)