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The 49ers Trade Down with the Arizona Cardinals in New Mock Draft

This is an intriguing idea.

Grant Cohn

Jan 5, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Jan 5, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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The 49ers are in an interesting spot.

They're currently scheduled to pick just outside the top 10 in the upcoming NFL Draft, which means they're not assured to get a franchise-changing player. And they have needs all over their roster. They could stand pat, take the best player available and hope he's special, or they could trade down and accumulate more picks.

That's what Pro Football Network projects the 49ers to do in their latest mock draft. They have the 49ers sending pick No. 11 to the Cardinals in exchange for pick Nos. 16 and 47 and then selecting Missouri offensive tackle Armand Membou.

"This trade could not have worked out better for the San Francisco 49ers," writes PFN analyst Ben Rolfe. "They drop back and pick up a second-round selection while still getting a potential starting right tackle in Armand Membou. He brings a rare combination of strength and technique and is highly battled tested coming from the SEC.

"The 49ers’ offensive line ranked 14th last year, so they do not need wholesale changes. However, Trent Williams is entering the twilight of his career, and Colton McKivitz will be a free agent after 2025. Membou could be an insurance policy in 2025 if McKivitz has to cover Williams and then step in as a replacement starter for 2026."

This is an intriguing idea, but Membou does not look like a player who could replace Trent Williams at left tackle in the future. Membou looks like a right tackle or a guard. So while trading down could be wise, the 49ers probably should just take the best offensive tackle available with the 11th pick.

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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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