The numbers don’t add up for the San Francisco 49ers. With the 2025 NFL Draft in its final stretch, the Niners must remember that they lost their fifth-round pick due to an accounting error in 2022, which continues to have repercussions.
The NFL has very strict rules on accounting matters. The league is aware that financial transparency is the cornerstone of fair competition and is unforgiving of even the smallest mistake, as evidenced by the case of San Francisco misreporting total player compensation at the end of the 2022 season.
After a review, the NFL determined that the 49ers still fell under the salary cap that season despite the mistake. It was all a clerical error, but the league couldn’t let the blunder go unpunished, penalizing San Francisco to set a precedent for the rest of the teams.
The punishment for the Niners
For starters, the NFL forced San Francisco back four turns in the fourth round of the 2024 draft. That is, instead of taking the 131st pick, they had to select at 134th, picking receiver Jacob Cowling with that turn.
The punishment extended to the 2025 draft, where the 49ers will have to forfeit their fifth-round pick, which would be the 149th overall pick. However, there’s a catch: San Francisco is one of the most active teams in draft negotiations, so the punishment will have very little impact on the team’s draft strategy.
Was it really a punishment?
In 2024, the Niners had three picks in the fourth round. In addition to the 131st pick they were entitled to, they had negotiated the 124th and 129th picks with other teams. Thus, losing four spots with their original pick didn’t affect the team much.
Something similar will happen in the 2025 fifth round, where San Francisco has two extra picks. Although it lost its original pick, it also has the 147th pick it obtained from New Orleans via Washington when the 49ers traded Deebo Samuel to the Commanders. It also has the 160th pick it received in a deal with Minnesota.
While the punishment showed that the NFL doesn’t take accounting errors lightly, it also made it clear that each team’s management of its draft picks can make these punishments inconsequential, and the league knows this.
Ultimately, these are San Francisco’s picks in the 2025 NFL Draft:
- Round 1 – Pick 11
- Round 2 – Pick 43
- Round 3 – Pick 75
- Round 3 – Pick 100 (special compensatory pick)
- Round 4 – Pick 113
- Round 4 – Pick 138 (compensatory pick)
- Round 5 – Pick 147 (from Saints through Commanders)
- Round 5 – Pick 160 (from Vikings)
- Round 7 – Pick 227
- Round 7 – Pick 249 (compensatory pick)
- Round 7 – Pick 252 (compensatory pick)
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