Your daily San Francisco 49ers links for Wednesday, February 28, 2024
This week, we’ll be keeping track of all the visits and players the San Francisco 49ers meet with at the NFL Combine.
Report: Auburn DB D.J. James has formal interview scheduled with 49ers
James played three seasons with Oregon in the Pac-12 before transferring to Aubrun for his final two seasons. On his way to an All-SEC second-team bid in 2022, James tallied 25 tackles in 12 games with eight pass deflections, an interception and one touchdown. In his final season at Auburn, James recorded 30 tackles with two interceptions and ten pass deflections.
49ers Blockbuster Trade Proposal Lands 2 High Picks for Disgruntled Star
“If the 49ers trade Aiyuk, they can likely get first- and middle-round picks in a deal that compares to the A.J. Brown trade between the Tennessee Titans and Philadelphia Eagles two years ago.
“In this trade scenario, the 49ers would get an earlier third-round pick than the Titans received from the Eagles, which would allow them to fill another hole on their roster with a rookie who could play right away.”
“The Aiyuk situation, given the way the rest of the wide receiver market still hasn’t shaken out, is going to be very difficult for the 49ers to navigate this offseason,” Graziano wrote.
“The most likely way this shakes out is Aiyuk ends up getting traded to a team where he’s the clear No. 1 wideout and where he can get the extension he wants, leaving the Niners to draft his replacement in the first round.”
“It’s a nice feeling, I know that, having stability at that position,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Not since the 49ers signed Jimmy Garoppolo to a contract extension that made him the highest-paid player in the NFL in 2018 has the team felt this much security heading into an offseason.
During the remainder of Garoppolo’s time with the 49ers, he either was coming back from injury or San Francisco had spent time in the offseason pursuing the possibility of finding a new starter.
Purdy is nearly a year removed from surgery and can spend this offseason working on his craft instead of just getting back into condition to throw a football.
“He can focus on areas of improvement rather than just getting well,” Lynch said.
“We see an already bright career continuing to ascend. We’re really happy with Brock and everything he represents and the way he is leading our team right now.”
John Lynch Drops Hints about the 49ers’ Next Defensive Coordinator
“No,” Lynch said, “because I think we have a great idea who we’re going to be and continue to be and the things we believe in. So is it important? Sure. We’re working towards that. Kyle’s working towards that. That will come in due time here, but we want to be true to the process, learn a lot from it, identify some of the changes and tweaks we want to make, while still staying kind of (true) to our core.”
TRANSLATION: The 49ers aren’t going to bring someone in who will make big changes on the defense, so forget Bill Belichick. Instead, they’ll hire someone and allow him to make minor tweaks and changes.
A lot of people get mad, like, ‘You’re being cruel to this guy; why don’t you give him something?’ ” Lynch said during an interview for the latest “49ers Talk.” “We can’t. I’d love to.”
Lynch began to joke that, if he could, he would take money out of his own pocket to pay Purdy a little more.
Then, he quickly reconsidered with a laugh, “Won’t do that.”
“I think because of that, we’ve been able to build around him in such a way,” Lynch said. “And we’ve had a lot of good players. Fortunately, we drafted well and we’ve made some trades for players who are some of the best in the league.
“Now … at some point you got to pay the piper. It’s going to come due.”