General manager John Lynch recently joined the Chris Simms Unbuttoned podcast, where he shared a tense moment from last year's NFL Draft. The San Francisco 49ers nearly ran out of time while making the third of their three fourth-round selections. Ultimately, they chose wide receiver Jacob Cowing out of Arizona with the 135th overall pick, but not without a scramble in the draft room.
Lynch revealed that the 49ers were deep in trade discussions as their time on the clock dwindled, leaving them with just about a minute and 45 seconds to finalize their decision. The decision-makers were torn between Cowing and a linebacker, with no clear consensus.
At that point, Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan turned to their scouts for input. But as the clock continued to tick, Lynch began urging Shanahan to act quickly.
In the NFL Draft, if a team fails to submit its pick before time expires, the next team in line can make its selection. That process can continue, with subsequent teams jumping ahead until the original team finally submits its choice.
The high-stakes scenario had Lynch on edge.
"I'm like, 'Kyle, we gotta go,'" Lynch said. "And he's like, 'No, we got 45 seconds.'"
With the clock winding down, Lynch and Shanahan asked their scouts for a show of hands—who wanted Cowing and who preferred the linebacker. Unfortunately, the results were split, offering little clarity.
"And I'm like, 'Kyle, like, we're going,'" Lynch continued. "And he's like, 'Hold on, we got plenty of time.' And 30 seconds [left], he goes, 'All right, here's why the receiver would be important. Here's why the linebacker.' Another show of hands. Now, there's 20 seconds.
"And then he goes, 'Okay, one more time. Throw them up.'"
Finally, Shanahan made the call. With seven seconds left, Lynch instructed Justin Chabot, the associate director of college scouting, to submit the pick—just in time.
"I think we went down to like two seconds, and we got the pick in," Lynch added. "And you can forfeit your pick. That was the closest call we've ever had, so that was a little hairy."
You can listen to Lynch's entire interview below.