49ers General Manager John Lynch said before the draft that he’s had discussions with teams about a potential trade involving wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and that he believes there’s “a chance” that a deal comes together.
The Commanders reportedly hope that’s not the case. Lynch said after the season that it was safe to say Aiyuk has played his final snap for the Niners and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Commanders have “significant interest” in signing Aiyuk if the 49ers release him.
The 49ers are less likely to do that as long as they think the Commanders might pivot to making an offer and they voided the remaining guarantees on Aiyuk’s contract, so there’s no particular time pressure for them to make a move at this point in the calendar.
Washington has frequently been mentioned as a possible landing spot for Aiyuk. He and quarterback Jayden Daniels were teammates at Arizona State and the team has space for a complement to Terry McLaurin in their receiving corps. They drafted wideout Antonio Williams in the third round on Friday and also have Treylon Burks, Luke McCaffrey, Dyami Brown, Van Jefferson, and Jaylin Lane at the moment.
There aren’t many, if any, in the NFL who love adding a third-round running back more than Kyle Shanahan.
The 49ers have done it again, selecting Kaelon Black out of Indiana with the No. 90 overall pick on Friday night.
Black spent four years at James Madison before following head coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana for the 2024 season. While he wasn’t a starter in the Hoosiers’ championship season of 2025, he still rushed for 1,039 yards with 10 touchdowns — leading the team in the latter category.
In his 56 career collegiate games with 15 starts, Black rushed for 2,595 yards with 17 touchdowns while catching 55 passes for 528 yards with six TDs.
He’ll now join a San Francisco team that has had plenty of success with running backs during Shanahan’s tenure as head coach.
The Browns have acquired pick No. 58 in the second round from the 49ers.
With that selection, Cleveland has drafted safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren out of Toledo.
Despite playing at a smaller school, McNeil-Warren became one of the top safeties in this year’s class. He appeared in 48 games with 26 starts for Toledo, tallying five interceptions, 15 passes defended, nine forced fumbles, and a sack.
He’ll now stay in Ohio to start his pro career.
The Browns sent No. 70 and No. 107 to the 49ers in exchange for No. 58 and No. 152 to complete the deal.
The Cowboys added two players to their defense in the first round of the draft and they picked up a veteran on that side of the ball on Friday night.
According to multiple reports, they have agreed to a trade that will bring linebacker Dee Winters to Dallas. The 49ers will receive the 152nd pick in the draft in return for Winters.
Winters was a 2023 sixth-round pick by the Niners and he started all 17 games for the team last season. He had 101 tackles and returned his only interception of the season for a 74-yard touchdown.
DeMarvion Overshown is the top linebacker on the Cowboys’ depth chart and Winters should slot in alongside him on defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s unit.
The 49ers have made their first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft.
After trading down twice on Thursday night, the 49ers stayed put at No. 33 and made wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling the first player selected in the second round.
Stribling had 55 catches for 811 yards and six touchdowns for Ole Miss last year. He played at Oklahoma State and Washington State before moving to Oxford for his final college season.
The 49ers added veterans Mike Evans and Christian Kirk in free agency and have Ricky Pearsall heading into his final season. Brandon Aiyuk remains on the roster, but the 49ers have indicated that he’ll be off the depth chart in the near future.
