Pat McManamon and Jordan Raanan wrote up an interesting piece for ESPN that details how the Odell Beckham Jr. to Cleveland Browns deal went down, and how the San Francisco 49ers' interest sparked the trade.
It is well-known that the 49ers had interest in the Pro Bowl wide receiver and head coach Kyle Shanahan recently said that general manager John Lynch had been trying to get a deal done for Beckham for some time.
"We definitely looked into the Odell thing," Shanahan recently told Adam Schefter. "John had been working on that for a few months, trying to see if something could happen. I just didn't think we had the stuff that [the Giants] wanted. It didn't work out."
McManamon and Raanan state that the 49ers were the most active suitor before the Browns got involved, but were unwilling to part with their valuable No. 2 overall pick if New York would not give them the No. 6 pick in return.
Giants general manager Dave Gettleman had "numerous conversations" with Lynch over the course of weeks leading to the trade to Cleveland.
Then there was a request for defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, one of the 49ers' best players and a budding NFL star, to be part of a deal for Beckham.
"Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner's name was also brought up at some point in the conversations between Gettleman and Lynch," says the ESPN piece. "The 49ers didn't want to go there."
The 49ers' known interest in a trade for Beckham is what pushed the Browns into action. Assuming that San Francisco was unwilling to part with the No. 2 pick (a deal would have been done already had they been willing to do so), the Browns offered up the No. 17 overall pick, knowing it would be better than anything else the 49ers could offer.
A day of conversations between Gettleman and Browns general manager John Dorsey led to a finalized deal to send Beckham from New York to Cleveland. The trade reportedly left Lynch and the 49ers stunned.
"Lynch and Gettleman had multiple conversations spanning weeks," wrote McManamon and Raanan. "Despite the 49ers monitoring the situation closely, they ultimately never heard from the Giants before the trade was made. Gettleman's contact with Lynch ended the days prior to the conversations with Cleveland. It's strongly believed the 49ers would have been willing to offer more for a wide receiver of Beckham's stature, according to a league source."
