When wide receiver Odell Beckham was on the market, 49ers General Manager John Lynch made no secret of his interest.
And while he wasn’t willing to part with the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, there were talks that might have kept him in the first round.
In a detailed look at how the Giants traded Beckham to the Browns from ESPN, the 49ers played a significant role in making the final deal happen.
Lynch wanted to add Beckham in a serious way, and there was some discussion of sending the second pick to the Giants, but only if the sixth overall pick came back as part of the package. The Giants also apparently asked if Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was available, but the two sides never came together.
That interest, however, turned up the heat in Cleveland. With Browns G.M. John Dorsey already talking to Giants counterpart Dave Gettleman about the Olivier Vernon-for-Kevin Zeitler deal, there were chances to expand the conversation. When they were planning on finalizing that deal during a call on the morning of March 12, things got interesting.
Dorsey, afraid the 49ers would finish a deal before he could, asked Gettleman about Beckham, and Gettleman reportedly replied: “What do you got?”
The Giants wanted two first-rounders. The Browns floated throwing defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah in the deal. The Giants weren’t interested (he was eventually dealt to the Chiefs). The Giants were interested in safety Jabrill Peppers, since they needed a Landon Collins replacement, and as talks proceeded, Peppers effectively became that second first-rounder.
“About four o’clock, it was like, ‘You know what, there may be a chance this may work out,’” Dorsey said.
The Giants eventually agreed that night, without shopping Beckham to others (for some reason). That left the 49ers disappointed, and the Giants might have missed a chance to peel more out of Lynch than they got from Dorsey. But now they don’t have to worry about seeing Beckham more than once in four years — unless the deal propels both teams to the Super Bowl.