Niners trade to 3 was due to fear pats would trade up to draft Jones

[Ring 6]

I think that the 49ers wanted Lance the whole time. What might be true is that they didn't want the Pats to get Jones, leaving the Pats without a QB and in the market for Jimmy G. I can see that rationale where they move up to three. They thought that would box the Pats out of the QB market. I'm sure they didn't count on the Panthers trading for Darnold, which took them out of the QB market. So the 49ers figured that they would end up with 15 when they traded Jimmy to the Pats, so they rolled the dice and made the trade.

Seems like a heavy price to try to have a better chance to get back a 2 or 3 for Jimmy g though.

 

[Steve102]

I think that the 49ers wanted Lance the whole time. What might be true is that they didn't want the Pats to get Jones, leaving the Pats without a QB and in the market for Jimmy G. I can see that rationale where they move up to three. They thought that would box the Pats out of the QB market. I'm sure they didn't count on the Panthers trading for Darnold, which took them out of the QB market. So the 49ers figured that they would end up with 15 when they traded Jimmy to the Pats, so they rolled the dice and made the trade.

This is pretty good analysis IMO. The fact the Niners had fear the Pats would move up to get Jones doesn't mean they were out on Lance or wanted Jones. It simply means they were afraid the market for JimmyG would dry up fast if the Pats were not in the mix.

 

[Ross12]

Yeah I’m curious about the timing. Feels like someone trying to set up SF a little bit to look like idiots later today when Jones looks good.

This is well-covered territory by now, we’ll never know the real truth. In my opinion, SF was up to some sh*t pre-draft with all the leaks about Jimmy, about them wanting Jones, about their demands for Jimmy… it just felt obvious that they were trying to extort Bill, and Bill didn’t bite. Ultimately he was very smart to do so.

Just based on the sheer volume of reports about a Jimmy trade I honestly think Plan A was to draft Mac to start Week 1 and trade Jimmy for #15 (or at least a first next year) to soften the blow substantially. Bill refused to bite so then they had no takers for Jimmy at their asking price and felt like the media would’ve raked them over the coals for taking Jones and then only getting a 2nd or 3rd for Jimmy, so they kept him and went with the higher-upside long term prospect instead.

It’s honestly a no-win situation for SF if Mac looks good because a large portion of their fan base will think Shanahan and Lynch screwed the pooch spending 3 firsts on a guy who still looks far from ready while the dude who went 12 picks later is starting week 1 (hell, Fields looks decent too). They can ignore the noise but something tells me they can’t.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Sources: Niners feared Pats trade up for Jones

One of the many reasons the 49ers traded up to the third overall spot in this year's NFL draft was the belief that the Patriots could also trade up to No. 3 and beat them to QB Mac Jones, league sources told ESPN.

www.espn.com

And Niners didn't take him and pats still got Jones at 15. Seems like a miscalculation to me

Could cost the gm and coach their jobs. Soon.

What an epic screw up. Spend all those picks then change your mind and take the least ready QB

 

[DropKickFlutie]

The Shefter piece is more ambiguous and diplomatic and soft. Florio wrote as well and was angled to paint the 49ers in a damaging light. 49ers could have gotten either QB at 12, so no matter how it's spun this was a terrible move to give away 3 first round picks.

 

[scott99]

I think that the 49ers wanted Lance the whole time. What might be true is that they didn't want the Pats to get Jones, leaving the Pats without a QB and in the market for Jimmy G. I can see that rationale where they move up to three. They thought that would box the Pats out of the QB market. I'm sure they didn't count on the Panthers trading for Darnold, which took them out of the QB market. So the 49ers figured that they would end up with 15 when they traded Jimmy to the Pats, so they rolled the dice and made the trade.

I don’t think NFL teams think this way, fans do, maybe sports journalists do, but not teams. I know it’s cliche, but I believe MOST teams are in the same mindset as Belichick, they only care about THEIR team, and do what’s best for THEIR team.

I don’t believe SF traded up because they feared what the Pats would, or to box out the Pats so the Pats don’t get one of the top 5. I think they traded up to the top 3, because they knew it would give them the option to pick whoever they wanted in the remaining 4 QBs. There was no way of knowing Wilson was going to be picked 2nd, but even if you felt that, that leaves you in position of having your choice of Lance, Fields or Jones. They made their decision.

The minute I read the article I felt it was BS. If they feared that the Pats would take Jones 3rd so they traded up, if that were true, why didn’t they take Jones once they had the 3rd pick. I agree with what someone said on TV (I forget who), they didn’t select Jones at 3, because they already have a Mac Jones on the roster, Jones is very similar to Jimmy G. I personally feel Jones is much better coming out of college than Jimmy G was though.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

I don’t think NFL teams think this way, fans do, maybe sports journalists do, but not teams. I know it’s cliche, but I believe MOST teams are in the same mindset as Belichick, they only care about THEIR team, and do what’s best for THEIR team.

I don’t believe SF traded up because they feared what the Pats would, or to box out the Pats so the Pats don’t get one of the top 5. I think they traded up to the top 3, because they knew it would give them the option to pick whoever they wanted in the remaining 4 QBs. There was no way of knowing Wilson was going to be picked 2nd, but even if you felt that, that leaves you in position of having your choice of Lance, Fields or Jones. They made their decision.

The minute I read the article I felt it was BS. If they feared that the Pats would take Jones 3rd so they traded up, if that were true, why didn’t they take Jones once they had the 3rd pick. I agree with what someone said on TV (I forget who), they didn’t select Jones at 3, because they already have a Mac Jones on the roster, Jones is very similar to Jimmy G. I personally feel Jones is much better coming out of college than Jimmy G was though.

Agree. But in this case it's from Shefter who doesn't usually float rumors like crap toxic Boston media people do locally.

I watched Shanahan interviews in March and think he did get affected by media scrutiny and people talking to him. He would back peddle and say they were not sure who to take. I think they sensed taking Mac at #3 would be ridiculed. Strategically moving up to take the third QB left was poor decision making in the first place. It only made sense if you had a guy in mind, but then it got bungled further by switching up what got them excited in the first place (Mac).

 

[Hammer of Thor]

It's not the first time Shanahan messed up badly on the QB front; he has a track record of doing that. SF didn't draft either Watson or Mahomes a few years ago because Shanahan was tunnel-visioning on signing Kirk Cousins in FA the next year. Word was it that there was also internal bickering over trading for Garroppolo.

Keeping in mind that the 49ers moved up two months before the actual draft, it then becomes plausible that after they moved up, there was again more internal bickering over who to pick and then they shifted from Jones to Lance.

Mike Florio posted an article arguing your theory is what happened.
Report: 49ers traded up to keep Patriots from getting Mac Jones (not a typo) - ProFootballTalk

 

[venecol]

At the end of the day, none of this matters until we see who's who on the field. Finally, done with all the speculation. Let's see how Mac looks this afternoon. I'm sure 9ers play Lance this season as well. I'm pumped.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I highly doubt they ever wanted jones, let alone at 3. Sounded like leaked ‘inside info’ because they knew we wanted jones and they wanted to drive up the price for jimmy g. Bb played it perfect staying put. Especially not trading up to 13 to ensure jones, i wont lie I probably woulda panicked and traded up to 13

 

[mgteich]

We can certainly debate on whether it was worth trading up to #3 and give up what SF did.

To my mind, SF had decided that they wanted one of the best QB's available, and were able to move up to 3 to get one of the top QB's. When they made the trade, we seem to believe that SF MUST have decided which of the top 5 QB's they wanted. I disagree. They merely needed to be convinced that wanted at least 3 of the QB's.

Was Jones the choice when they made the trade to move up? No one outside the SF organization knows. It doesn't matter at all. The choice had to made on Draft Day., not on the day of the trade. Perhaps, SF was fine with any of the top 5 when they made the trade, maybe with 4; maybe with 3.

The BOTTOM LINE is that the patriots got great value at 15. Belichick decided not to move up at all, apparently confident that no one would trade into a pick before us to draft Jones. Or perhaps Belichick just thought that Jones wasn't worth the 4th that it might have taken to move up a spot or two. Note, that I'm talking about a potential trade into 12 or 13 or 14.
==========
SURELY NO ONE WOULD TRADE INTO THOSE SPOTS
I think that most of us were holding our breath when the TWO trades into those positions were announced. Perhaps, no one want to trade with us. I find that difficult to believe. MIN could have extracted something.

 

[JMC00]

I believe it. Their original pick was #12 so they most likely were thinking they could miss out on a QB entirely. Lawrence & Wilson were 1 & 2 off the board the second the season ended, which i'm guessing they were looking at Lance or Jones and they were thinking if they stayed at #12 they might miss out on both.

Remember they did the trade 2 months before the draft so i'd imagine there was hundreds of discussions of who to take. The contingent that wanted Lance won out. So maybe they didn't specifically go up to take Jones but I think part of them going up is because they worried if they settled on Jones and didn't go up Pats would jump up ahead of them.

I do think they still overreacted, Lance would have been there at #12. Falcons were taking Pitts, Bengals, Dolphins and Lions weren't QB needy, Broncos & Panthers traded for QBs. Eagles were really the only question but I think they would have still taken Smith over Lance as they passed on Fields & Jones.

 

[zydecochris]

It’s honestly a no-win situation for SF if Mac looks good because a large portion of their fan base will think Shanahan and Lynch screwed the pooch spending 3 firsts on a guy who still looks far from ready while the dude who went 12 picks later is starting week 1 (hell, Fields looks decent too). They can ignore the noise but something tells me they can’t.

Owners decide when to hire and fire coaches and GMs. Owners pay attention to what the public, and yes, the media says about them team and how it is run, that affects public enthusiasm for their team which drives ticket sales (both normal ones and high priced boxes). So far Shanahan and Lynch haven’t been able to come up with a reliable QB, and I’m sure they are feeling pressure to deliver from above. It isn’t surprising to me that they weren’t able to ignore the media “noise” if the owner is listening to it. That is why we are lucky to have someone in BB with enough job security to not make these type of panicky decisions.

 

[Zuma]

Imo they reached waaaaaay too far for Lance. They will regret not taking Jones or Fields.

 

[Patriot Missile]

I think that the 49ers wanted Lance the whole time. What might be true is that they didn't want the Pats to get Jones, leaving the Pats without a QB and in the market for Jimmy G. I can see that rationale where they move up to three. They thought that would box the Pats out of the QB market. I'm sure they didn't count on the Panthers trading for Darnold, which took them out of the QB market. So the 49ers figured that they would end up with 15 when they traded Jimmy to the Pats, so they rolled the dice and made the trade.

This scenario makes the most sense. I do think they liked both. I think Patriots fans would of been happy with either. I liked all 5 but in retrospect to training camp, it’s looking good for us so far.

 

[BobDigital]

I didn't look into QBs the way I should have leading up to the draft. Frankly I didn't look much at all. But I would think if I examined things closely I would have probably had Jones as my #2 prospect behind Lawrence, as he has a lot of the traits I value in a QB, traits which I think are often undervalued. I really don't value athleticism much. And I don't value a 'big arm' though a bad arm can be an issue. I would like to look at any post I made leading up to the draft, but I make so many that it would be kind of hard to find them lol. I would think I would probably go #1 Lawrence #2 Jones #3 Wilson #4 Fields/Lance #5 Lance/Fields

 

[captain stone]

I really don't think they did all their scouting to decide on Jones and then give up so much to move up in the draft only to read the press and trust the press report more than their own scouting. I'm sure they wanted Lance the whole time but the media assumed they were trading up for Jones.

Mike Lombardi practically swore on his mother's grave that the 49ers would choose Mac Jones...So something definitely happened somewhere between then & draft night...

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Mike Lombardi practically swore on his mother's grave that the 49ers would choose Mac Jones...So something definitely happened somewhere between then & draft night...

They idiotically changed after trading 3 first round picks. Didn't have the stones to have the conviction to take Mac, got scared of the ridicule

 

[DropKickFlutie]

We can certainly debate on whether it was worth trading up to #3 and give up what SF did.

To my mind, SF had decided that they wanted one of the best QB's available, and were able to move up to 3 to get one of the top QB's. When they made the trade, we seem to believe that SF MUST have decided which of the top 5 QB's they wanted. I disagree. They merely needed to be convinced that wanted at least 3 of the QB's.

Was Jones the choice when they made the trade to move up? No one outside the SF organization knows. It doesn't matter at all. The choice had to made on Draft Day., not on the day of the trade. Perhaps, SF was fine with any of the top 5 when they made the trade, maybe with 4; maybe with 3.

The BOTTOM LINE is that the patriots got great value at 15. Belichick decided not to move up at all, apparently confident that no one would trade into a pick before us to draft Jones. Or perhaps Belichick just thought that Jones wasn't worth the 4th that it might have taken to move up a spot or two. Note, that I'm talking about a potential trade into 12 or 13 or 14.
==========
SURELY NO ONE WOULD TRADE INTO THOSE SPOTS
I think that most of us were holding our breath when the TWO trades into those positions were announced. Perhaps, no one want to trade with us. I find that difficult to believe. MIN could have extracted something.

Even if this is the excuse or rationale used, it's very poor decision making and poor judgement. So you roll the dice giving away 3 firsts, for the 3rd QB left ??? Nobody was going to take Lance that high, this bust in the making averaged 160 yards passing a game in an offense than ran the ball 70% of the time.

.

 

[condon84]