2021 NFL Draft: 49ers, Dolphins, Eagles blockbuster trades shake up order
The 2021 NFL Draft order has been shaken up considerably after some blockbuster trades involving the San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, and Philadelphia Eagles.
As pretty much everyone in the NFL world was watching Zach Wilson’s pro day at BYU, the San Francisco 49ers — led by GM John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan — got aggressive and moved up with the Miami Dolphins for the third overall pick.
Just a few minutes after that, the Philadelphia Eagles announced they had traded back from the sixth overall pick to 12 with the Miami Dolphins.
Both of these trades involved future first-round draft choices and more. Let’s break down each trade and take a look at how they have shaken up the 2021 NFL Draft order.
49ers – Dolphins trade
The 49ers made this trade knowing they love not one, not two, but three quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft class.
Given the tremendous relationship between the 49ers’ front office and new Jets head coach Robert Saleh, it would be shocking if the 49ers didn’t know the Jets’ intentions with the second overall pick based on this trade.
If the Jets were not taking a specific player with the second overall pick, why would they not have taken this bounty of selections from the 49ers? Furthermore, if they were sticking with Sam Darnold at quarterback, why wouldn’t they have accepted this king’s ransom?
Given the fact that this all went down at Zach Wilson’s pro day, it seems likely that Wilson is the Jets’ guy as has been rumored for a while now.
Or is it possible that Wilson is the 49ers’ guy? Maybe the Jets love more than two quarterbacks in this draft as well, but they didn’t want to move all the way down to the 12th pick. The 49ers could still offer this year’s second-round pick and more in order to move up from the 3rd pick to the 2nd pick if the Jets don’t love Zach Wilson more than other QBs in the class.
That seems less likely, but anything is possible.
Dolphins – Eagles trade
After dropping down to the 12th pick, the Dolphins trade a future first-round pick to move back up to the sixth overall pick. Essentially, this works out like a three-team trade.
The Dolphins move down a total of three spots and end up with an extra fifth-round pick in 2021, first round picks from the 49ers in 2022 and 2023, and a third-rounder from the 49ers in 2023.
Not bad for moving down just three spots.
The Eagles’ motivation to move down from the sixth overall pick is intriguing. Obviously, they weren’t dead set on getting anyone like Kyle Pitts as a top non-QB from this draft, and if they had aims on a quarterback, they are now aware that whoever those guys would have been will be gone by the sixth pick.
The 2022 first-round pick was more valuable to the Eagles than picking 6th in this year and that move could give them a total of three first-round selections in the 2022 NFL Draft if the Indianapolis Colts (Carson Wentz trade).
Dolphins overall haul
- 6th pick
- 156th pick
- 2022 1st (49ers)
- 2023 1st (49ers)
- 2022 3rd (49ers)
The Dolphins already own the Houston Texans’ 2022 first-round pick as well, so even though they have given up their own 2022 first-round pick (to the Eagles) they have multiple first-rounders to work with.
Updated 2021 NFL Draft order (top-12 picks)
1. Jacksonville Jaguars
2. New York Jets
3. San Francisco 49ers (from Dolphins via Texans)
4. Atlanta Falcons
5. Cincinnati Bengals
6. Miami Dolphins (from Eagles)
7. Detroit Lions
8. Carolina Panthers
9. Denver Broncos
10. Dallas Cowboys
11. New York Giants
12. Philadelphia Eagles (from Dolphins via 49ers)
What is going to happen at the top of the 2021 NFL Draft now?
Trevor Lawrence is all but Sharpied into the first overall pick. The New York Jets and Zach Wilson appear to be a match, but maybe not a 100 percent guarantee.
The next best quarterbacks in this class are Trey Lance, Justin Fields, and Mac Jones. Would the 49ers really trade three top draft picks plus a third-round pick for Mac Jones? Maybe. I am on record as saying he’s really the exact “type” that Kyle Shanahan has won with at the NFL level. Maybe they love him.
If Mac Jones is the third pick, the next two picks could be traded so quarterbacks could go 1-2-3-4-5 in the draft.
There has never been a situation where even the top four selections have been quarterbacks.
The 2021 NFL Draft is going to be wild. Buckle up.