Kyle Shanahan Explains Why the 49ers Drafted for 2025 and Beyond

This year, the 49ers decided to draft players who might replace veterans who will be free agents next year. They planned ahead. Which is fine, except they're a player or two away from winning the Super Bowl.

Mar 26, 2024; Orlando, FL, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan speaks to the media / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

The 49ers just drafted some talented players, but the biggest criticism of their draft class is that it won't make the team better for their Super Bowl push next season.

After the draft, head coach Kyle Shanahan acknowledged that the team selected players with an eye toward 2025 and beyond.

"The hardest thing," Shanahan said, "is when you go through the draft, especially when you feel you're a contender, you want to do everything to just look at your board and fill those holes. But that's not really how the draft works. It's how it comes to you. You’ve got to look at it at different levels and through different layers and you’ve got to think right now, and you’ve got to think ahead. But being close like we were last year, feeling we got to have a chance to at least have an opportunity to try to do something like that again. You want to think always what helps us now, but then you get to that spot and there always isn't that answer right then. And so do you go with what kind of helps us now or what helps us more in the future? And so you're just constantly weighing that, whether it's the draft, whether that's free agency and everything."

This year, the 49ers decided to draft players who might replace veterans who will be free agents next year. They planned ahead. Which is fine, except they're a player or two away from winning the Super Bowl. Why not target one difference-maker and trade up for him?

Shanahan said teams have to let the draft come to them, but that's a cop-out. The Chiefs traded up in Round 1 for a wide receiver they love -- Xavier Worthy, who's similar to DeSean Jackson, a receiver who had tremendous success under head coach Andy Reid. Then the Chiefs traded up in Round 2 for an offensive tackle they love -- Kingsley Suamataia.

The Chiefs are better than the 49ers, and they still found a way to make themselves better in the present. The 49ers should take notes.