John Lynch went to bed Monday night expecting to come up empty-handed by Tuesday’s trade deadline.
He didn’t sleep well.
While he had been in contact with Washington Commanders GM Martin Mayhew over a possible trade, Lynch said he had a feeling nothing would come to fruition.
He cited the fact that compensation for some of these trades has increased substantially — especially when you consider both the Seahawks and Bears parted with second-round picks for Leonard Williams and Montez Sweat, respectively — and didn’t feel like the 49ers were going to be comfortable parting with that level of compensation.
But Lynch and Mayhew have an excellent relationship. Lynch cited Mayhew as a mentor for him in Tampa Bay when both were there as players. Lynch arrived in 1993 as a rookie, and said Mayhew, a veteran corner who was with the Buccaneers through 1996, took him under his wing.
Mayhew eventually became the 49ers’ vice president of player personnel under Lynch with the 49ers, where he spent four years in the front office. San Francisco received two special compensatory third-round picks when the Commanders hired him in 2021.
On Tuesday, they spent another special compensatory selection from a similar situation. San Francisco traded a compensatory pick acquired from the Houston Texans hiring DeMeco Ryans as head coach and the Tennessee Titans hiring Ran Carthon as general manager.
That’s the third-round pick that acquired Chase Young, with the Commanders preferring to ensure they acquired a pick now, rather than hope for one through the compensatory formula. The 49ers are also unlikely to be as active as Washington in free agency, meaning they’ll likely recoup a compensatory third-round pick in 2025 if/when Young signs a major deal elsewhere.
As it stands, San Francisco still has its original third-round pick, and another compensatory pick from the departure of Mike McGlinchey to Denver (the signing of Javon Hargrave was negated by… the Raiders’ signing of Jimmy Garoppolo).
The Young deal seems like a relative bargain for the 49ers, and Lynch pointed towards his relationship with Mayhew as a key factor in the trade – still contingent on Young passing his physical Wednesday — coming together.
“I think relationships matter in these things, and I’m very appreciative, [Mayhew] kept us in the loop, because we were looking at a variety of things,” Lynch said. “And he just kind of kept coming back saying, ‘Here’s where it’s at.’”
For the record, Mayhew offered Sweat as an option to Lynch, too. But it’s clear Young was the player they were more interested in, and Sweat’s price tag was a non-starter.
With Young, the major questions are health and run defense. There is little question about his pass-rushing ability, and he comes in with a now team-leading 5.0 sacks, and 40 pressures (per Pro Football Focus), which is fifth in the NFL and one fewer than Nick Bosa.
Lynch said he’s still waiting on medical information and tests to be sent over, but that he’s liked what he’s seen from Young this season health-wise.
“I kept turning on the tape and [seeing] like 75, 64 [snaps], those are a lot of snaps,” Lynch said. “So I think the proof is in what’s translating on the field. He’s been playing a lot and looking really good. So, there’s preliminary medical stuff where they send medical files and all that and then the last step is him flying out here today and doing the actual physical. So, we hope that all goes well, but it sure looks like he’s been healthy based upon what he’s been doing on the field.”
As for the run defense, Lynch said he views Young as a “complete player,” but acknowledged the 49ers “have to shore that up.”
He declined to go into detail — and didn’t have time to on the 13-minute conference call that concluded so Lynch could join KNBR — about whether the run defense was suffering schematically or from personnel.
But even if Young isn’t an elite run defender, Lynch seemed to feel he wouldn’t be a detriment in that regard.
The only real question in this acquisition was whether the 49ers were involved in trying to acquire a corner, and why they prioritized another defensive lineman. He pointed to value, and the 49ers’ defensive line-first philosophy.
“I felt like it was the best deal to be had,” Lynch said. “We had a number of conversations and we’ve always been of the philosophy that it starts up front and that was the deal that made the most sense for us.”
The 49ers can also potentially return two corners in Samuel Womack III, rookie Darrell Luter Jr. and other young players in edge rusher Robert Beal Jr. and wide receiver Danny Gray.
Lynch didn’t get specific, and the corners are clearly the priority — especially with the team releasing veteran Anthony Brown to make room for Young — but Lynch said “a couple, if not a few, are on the verge of having their windows open.”
That doesn’t mean anything is imminent, but it does indicate there are some young options potentially available to return in the back end.