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The 49ers Had Financial Incentive to Draft Ricky Pearsall in Round 1

Let's say the 49ers had traded down a few spots and taken Pearsall early in Round 2. No one would have criticized that move. And it would have saved the 49ers a couple million dollars over the life of his rookie contract.

Grant Cohn

Apr 25, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; Florida Gators wide receiver Ricky Pearsall is selected as the No. 31 pick of the first round by the San Francisco 49ers during the 2024 NFL Draft at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 25, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; Florida Gators wide receiver Ricky Pearsall is selected as the No. 31 pick of the first round by the San Francisco 49ers during the 2024 NFL Draft at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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Ricky Pearsall wasn't the best player available when the 49ers drafted him with the second-to-last pick in Round 1 this year, nor did he fill a need.

The 49ers drafted Pearsall for financial reasons.

Let's say the 49ers had traded down a few spots and taken Pearsall early in Round 2. No one would have criticized that move. And it would have saved the 49ers a couple million dollars over the life of his rookie contract.

But if the 49ers had drafted Pearsall in Round 2 and he went on to become a quality starting wide receiver, he'd be cost effective for only four years. In the fifth year, they'd have to extend his contract or franchise tag him, and either option is extremely expensive.

But they didn't draft Pearsall in Round 2. Instead, they reached for him in Round 1 which will save them money down the line because they won't have to franchise tag him after Year 4. Instead, they can pick up his fifth-year option, which will be a bargain compared to the franchise tag because he's a late-first-round pick.

The 49ers understand that wide receiver salaries are exploding and they won't be able to afford them once Brock Purdy is one of the highest-paid players in the NFL. So they need young wide receivers on rookie deals for as long as possible. Which means they desperately want that fifth-year option.

In a financial sense, the pick made complete sense. But now Pearsall has to deal with the pressure and the scrutiny of being a first-round pick when his talent doesn't merit the selection. We'll see what happens.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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