The 2025 NFL Draft marks a pivotal moment in the John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan era for the San Francisco 49ers. After years of pushing for a championship, investing heavily in money and resources without achieving the ultimate goal, the 49ers are shifting their roster-building strategy.
Faced with the need to reduce future cash spending, largely due to quarterback Brock Purdy's looming contract extension, the team saw several key contributors depart this offseason, creating depth concerns across the roster.
In response, Lynch and Shanahan are expected to lean heavily on the draft to replenish the roster with younger, more cost-effective talent, hoping to set the stage for future success. But to pull that off, they'll need to hit on several of their 11 draft picks, and likely repeat that success next year.
"Yeah, look, it's an interesting case," NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah said during a pre-draft conference call Friday morning. "They have done as well as anybody outside the first round of finding not just starters, but All-Pro, impact-caliber players. To me, it seems like a pretty simple formula where you want more shots at it than less, given their track record and their history."
That track record includes standout later-round picks like tight end George Kittle, linebacker Fred Warner, and perhaps most notably, Brock Purdy. But there have also been some costly misses, like trading a haul of draft capital to move up for quarterback Trey Lance or spending a first-round pick on defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw.
It all reinforces that there is no exact science to the draft, and the 49ers might have to rely on a bit of luck to acquire enough talent to bounce back from a disappointing six-win season in 2024.
Jeremiah emphasized the 49ers' ability to develop talent as a key strength that could aid in this offseason's roster reset.
"I think they're outstanding at doing that," he said. "To me, having [defensive coordinator] Robert Saleh back there is going to be big for him to work with some of the young guys they'll bring in on the defensive side of the ball to get them prepared and ready to go."
Notably, the team is set to receive multiple compensatory picks in 2026 due to this offseason's free-agent losses. That gives the 49ers a valuable two-year window with a strong arsenal of draft capital.
"I haven't pulled the exact numbers, but they have a boatload of picks in next year's draft because of the guys that they lost," Jeremiah said. "When you add up the comp picks, they're going to have a lot of shots at it next year. They're armed with a good number of picks this year."
Jeremiah adds that San Francisco could add even more draft picks next week if another team wants to move up in the first round. He believes the 49ers would be open to trading down from the No. 11 overall pick if the right offer comes along.
Looking ahead, Jeremiah isn't ruling out the 49ers keeping their contention window open, but he stresses that much of that hinges on this year's draft class.
"I'm sure they'll end up getting the Brock Purdy thing done here before too long," Jeremiah concluded, "and then it's going to come down to the importance of them hitting on their draft picks, just as the Rams have done inside their own division where they've been stellar and really kind of flipped their roster from old to young really, really fast."