The 49ers are projected to have 11 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, even after acquiring defensive end Chase Young on Tuesday.
San Francisco traded its special third-round compensatory pick to the Washington Commanders in exchange for Young, a league source told NBC Sports Bay Area.
The 49ers have benefited from the NFL’s compensatory formula and could also benefit from signing Young in the future.
The Commanders did not exercise Young’s fifth-year option, so the 49ers will have him for the remainder of this season before he is scheduled for unrestricted free agency in March.
Then the 49ers could get a compensatory pick in 2025 if Young signs elsewhere as a free agent.
The 2024 third-round draft pick the 49ers will send to Washington (assuming Young passes his physical on Wednesday) is expected to be somewhere around No. 100 overall.
San Francisco received this “special compensatory” draft pick as part of the NFL’s program to promote minority hiring practices. The 49ers received this draft pick when defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans and director of player personnel Ran Carthon left the organization in the offseason.
Ryans was hired as head coach of the Houston Texans while Carthon became general manager of the Tennessee Titans.
The 49ers are entitled to another third-round pick for the losses of Ryans and Carthon in the 2025 NFL Draft.
San Francisco is currently on track to receive the maximum of four compensatory picks for net free agent losses in the offseason.
According to OverTheCap.com, the 49ers are expected to add a third-round replacement pick for the loss of Mike McGlinchey to Denver, a fifth-rounder for Samson Ebukam, who signed with Indianapolis, and a sixth-round pick for Charles Omenihu (Kansas City) and Azeez Al-Shair (Tennessee).
The NFL uses a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors to determine the value of free agents who change teams. Compensatory ratings could change until the NFL finalizes draft regulations in March.
The 49ers have their own picks in each of the first four rounds of the draft and acquired another fourth-rounder when they traded quarterback Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys in August.
The 49ers have no picks of their own in the fifth and sixth rounds. The fifth-round pick in 2024 went to the Carolina Panthers to complete the trade for Christian McCaffrey, and they gave their sixth-round pick to the Denver Broncos for defensive end Randy Gregory and a seventh-round pick.
Here are the 49ers’ projected picks in the 2024 NFL Draft:
Round 1
round 2
Round 3
Round 3 (*Equalizer)
Round 4
Round 4 (via Dallas)
Round 5 (*Equalizer)
Round 6 (*Equalizer)
Round 6 (*Equalizer)
Round 7
Round 7 (Rams over Broncos)
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