Four 49ers players who would net first-round NFL draft picks in trades, per ESPN

Four 49ers players who would net first-round NFL draft picks in trades, per ESPN originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

With the 49ers’ current Super Bowl window potentially at its tail end — or completely closed, according to some — could San Francisco start looking to the future any time soon?

If general manager John Lynch and Co. decide to take that route and trade their most valuable players in return for NFL draft capital, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell believes there are a few stars who could net the 49ers at least one first-round pick in return.

Here’s who Barnwell identified as San Francisco’s most valuable trade assets in a piece published Wednesday:

DE Nick Bosa — Two first-round picks

Unsurprisingly, Bosa makes the top of Barnwell’s list as a perennial Pro Bowl selection and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Bosa immediately made an impact with the 49ers as Defensive Rookie of the Year and was a First Team All-Pro selection in 2022.

Bosa’s talent would place him atop any team’s best players, and Barnwell argues that Bosa’s abilities make the five-year, $170 million contract extension he signed in 2023 almost a non-factor.

“He’s on one of the largest edge rusher contracts in football, which would cut down his trade value a bit, but he has essentially been a Pro Bowl-or-better player since entering the league in 2019,” Barnwell wrote. “… His career line prorates to 13 sacks and 34 knockdowns per 17 games. He has added 10 more sacks in 12 playoff games.

“In any given season, he’s in the small group of favorites to be the league’s top pass rusher.”

QB Brock Purdy — One first-round pick and more

After Purdy signed a five-year, $265 million contract extension in May, the 49ers quarterback’s value became clearer than ever. Barnwell sees it too, and wouldn’t be surprised if Purdy drew a first-rounder and then some in a potential trade.

“There likely are teams that see a 25-year-old quarterback who led his team to an NFC Championship Game and a Super Bowl in his first two seasons, who has averaged nearly 9.0 yards per attempt and completed nearly 68 percent of his passes, who has ranked third in the NFL in Total QBR over the last three years, and see a player who would be a bargain at this trade value, even with a deal for $53 million per season,” Barnwell wrote.

But Barnwell also states there likely are teams who believe the “system QB” narrative surrounding Purdy.

“One group might see him as easily being worth two or three first-round picks,” Barnwell wrote. “The other might not want to trade a seventh-round pick for him. I’m somewhere between the two, but with quarterbacks, I err on the price being on the high side.”

G Dominick Puni, DL Mykel Williams — One first-round pick

Two of San Francisco’s recent draft picks would draw first-round compensation in a deal, Barnwell believes.

Puni quickly made his mark as a rookie during the 2024 NFL season, earning the starting right guard job in training camp and starting all 17 games. He was named to the Pro Football Writers’ All-Rookie Team after allowing just three sacks in 2024 and posting the ninth-best run-blocking grade (81.5) out of 135 eligible guards and the 39th-best pass-blocking grade (68.9), per PFF.

“Puni is one of the highest-rising players from the 2024 draft, a late third-round pick who immediately stepped in and became the second-best player on the San Francisco line behind future Hall of Famer Trent Williams,” Barnwell acknowledged.

And Mykel Williams, the 49ers’ 2025 first-round pick whom Barnwell described as “one of the many great Georgia linemen to enter the league in recent years,” is thriving so far in training camp under the mentorship of Bosa.

As for some of the 49ers’ other top players, like Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Trent Williams, Barnwell views them as “older than most teams would like, expensive or some combination of the two.” Brandon Aiyuk is coming off an ACL injury and also expensive, Barnwell notes, while Ricky Pearsall likely was drafted too late in 2023’s first round to yield a similar pick in return.

But what about All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner? Barnwell went back and forth on his value but ultimately decided he would be worth a second-round pick.

“I can’t argue at all with the talent, but he’s 28, just signed a deal for north of $20 million per year and plays a position the league doesn’t typically trade first-round picks to acquire,” Barnwell said of Warner. “A year ago, he would have been on the first-round side of the equation. Now, if the 49ers hadn’t signed him to an extension, I think a second-rounder would be a more likely return.”

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Four 49ers players who would net first-round NFL draft picks in trades, per ESPN

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