Dolphins GM recalls 49ers' pursuit of trade: ‘It took guts'

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With just about a week until making their franchise-altering selection at the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the 49ers are hard at work crossing the t's and dotting the i's as they aim to finalize their rankings of the five quarterbacks projected to be selected in the first round. 

The 49ers received the No. 3 pick in a blockbuster trade with the Miami Dolphins on March 26th. Fast forward to Wednesday, and we heard the Dolphins' perspective, as general manager Chris Grier discussed the trade with the 49ers in a press conference with local media.

Grier revealed that the 49ers had competition in the market for the third pick, but appreciated 49ers GM John Lynch's candor. 

“We’ve had a number of teams call us," Grier said. "They were talking about coming up to three. We were comfortable being where we were and once we evaluated it, obviously San Francisco was very aggressive. John was great to deal with. He was very open and honest, transparent."

Moving up to one of the top five picks, let alone the third overall pick in the draft, is a very expensive move to make, and the 49ers paid the price. Giving up their original pick at 12, plus a first and third-round pick in 2022, plus an additional first-round pick in 2023 ended up being a good enough haul for Grier and the Dolphins. 

"As we worked through it, we thought with the offers that we talked through, once they gave us the offer that we were comfortable with taking, we decided it was important for us also to get back into that top 10. Once it looked like San Francisco could happen, we kind of reached out to a few teams just gauging whether they would move or not."

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Not only did the 49ers make a splash trading for the third pick, they made the move an entire month before the draft.

"There were a lot of teams that wanted to wait. They wanted to wait and see. It takes guts to make a move like that so I give San Francisco and Philadelphia both credit for doing it.”

Now that the dust has settled after the 49ers made their move up the draft board, Lynch and Shanahan find themselves a week away from making their biggest selection as GM and coach of the 49ers.

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