The San Francisco 49ers have their first victory of the new year, winning Friday's coin toss against the Oakland Raiders to claim the ninth-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Here's what you should take away from the flip. Many draft analysts are projecting as many as four quarterbacks to go in the top 10. Should that be the case, the 49ers would be assured a top five non-quarterback prospect. It also means that there's a greater chance at a team looking to trade up in the draft if one of the top passers remains on the board at pick No. 9.
San Francisco moved back in the first round last year, trading the second-overall pick to the Chicago Bears before selecting Solomon Thomas with the third-overall pick. John Lynch said that the 49ers are open to trading back for a second-straight draft.
"We're always open," Lynch said in a sit down interview with 49ers Studios. "That's the cool thing about the draft is that there are so many options. We don't want to be picking high anymore. We don't want to be picking high in the draft anymore. It's fun during the draft, but it's reflective of something that happened before.
"We don't want to be in this position again, but while you are, you have to take advantage. A lot of people want what you have. We're going to have a lot of people interested, but if there's a guy we want and we feel strongly (about), we'll stay right there."
Bryan Broddaus of dallascowboys.com was kind enough to show me the Cowboys draft trade chart used by the team's front office. According to Dallas' valuations of draft picks, the ninth pick is worth 50 points more than the 10th pick. In 2017, 50 points was equivalent to a fourth-round pick. That means that the cost to acquire San Francisco's ninth pick would cost an extra fourth-rounder than it would to trade for Oakland's 10th selection.
But what about the other way around? If the 49ers absolutely fall in love with a prospect, is Lynch willing to put an offer together and trade up in the first round?
"We're not afraid to do that as well," Lynch said. "That's a neat thing. That's the way we've approached things is to not be closed-minded to any opportunity."
If the 49ers were to make a deal, it likely wouldn't be until draft day as teams will wait and see who is left on the board. That said, don't be surprised to see San Francisco be movers and shakers for the second-straight year under Lynch.
