The San Francisco 49ers traded running back Jeff Wilson Jr. on Tuesday, at the trade deadline, to the Miami Dolphins, receiving a fifth-round draft pick in return. General manager John Lynch didn't think it would happen, though.
"I thought we valued Jeff more than probably anyone else would," Lynch shared with The Athletic's Tim Kawakami on The TK Show podcast. "Well, it turns out Mike McDaniel had been around him and kind of knew who he was. I think it all made sense. The Dolphins never told us their intention. Shortly after our trade, we see that they trade [running back] Chase Edmonds over to Denver, so it made sense then."
Lynch explained that the 49ers didn't feel the need to recoup draft picks after trading away much of their 2023 stock for quarterback Trey Lance last year and running back Christian McCaffrey last month.
"But if the right opportunity came around, it would be nice," Lynch noted. "We really value our picks."
The 49ers viewed Wilson as a valuable part of the roster. However, he was scheduled to become a free agent after the season, and the running back room was getting crowded with the addition of McCaffrey and with Elijah Mitchell slated to return from an MCL sprain after the bye week. The team also has two rookies in Ty Davis-Price and Jordan Mason, who Lynch admits the 49ers are high on.
Still, the general manager wasn't sure any team was going to pay what they felt Wilson was worth until the Dolphins got more aggressive in pursuing the running back this week.
"We were quite clear with teams [on] what our price was, and it was a fifth-round pick," Lynch said. "And we were going to stay disciplined on that because Jeff's been a really valuable part of this team this year, and despite the fact that we have Christian now, that it looks good to have Elijah back, if not for the first game out of the bye, soon thereafter.
"So teams knew that, and for a guy that has eight games left on his deal, at a running back position where people just aren't inclined to trade a lot of capital unless it's certain players, the absolute cream of the crop, I just really didn't think it would happen."