© Bill Streicher | 2018 Nov 25
We now know exactly why the 49ers were unable to work out a trade with the Giants for star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. this offseason.
On the Murph & Mac Show Friday morning, 49ers general manager John Lynch revealed that the Giants wanted two first round picks in exchange for Beckham, and that San Francisco wasn’t willing to part with the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft.
“On Odell we were very much in that, we had been in it,” Lynch said. “I think ironically the fact that we had the No. 2 pick made it more difficult because they wanted that badly. They wanted two No. 1s and we weren’t willing to part with that, that’s too valuable of a pick, even for a player of his magnitude. So we tried to come up with creative different ways to get it done and it didn’t work out so you move on.”
It’s unclear if a first-round pick swap was part of the deal, as the Giants currently have the No. 6 overall pick in this year’s draft, and are expected to be in the market for a quarterback. New York ultimately traded Beckham to the Browns, along with Olivier Vernon, in exchange for Jabrill Peppers, Kevin Zeitler, and the Browns’ first and third-round pick.
Lynch also touched on the team’s interest, or lack thereof, in Antonio Brown, who was very public about his desire to join the 49ers this offseason.
“On Antonio we took a quick look and then we just said ‘Hey you know we’re not interested in that for our team.’ That’s where we are.”
While the 49ers will likely target a wide receiver in the draft, 49ers fans might be surprised to hear that Lynch is fairly content with the receiving corps as currently constructed.
“I think we feel pretty good about our receiving corps. I know a lot of people don’t share our sentiment. That’s not to say we’re done there. We still have a lot of this offseason left, we have a draft left, but we feel good about that and we want to continue to improve it. So that’s where we’re at on the receiving corps.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Lynch on Beckham and Brown, start from 9:00.