The San Francisco 49ers are in a good place to trade back in the 2025 NFL draft. ESPN analyst Bill Barnwell served up a trade idea where the 49ers move back and acquire a player who fills one of their biggest remaining needs.
In his mock draft of trades, Barnwell has the 49ers sending the No. 11 pick in the first round and the No. 113 pick in the fourth round to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for the No. 13 pick and defensive end Jaelan Phillips.
This seems like a potential dream scenario for San Francisco. They move back two spots and add a 25-year-old pass rusher with 23 career sacks in four seasons while giving up only a fourth-rounder to do so. This puts them in position to still select a defensive tackle or address another need at No. 13 overall.
There are a couple of major issues with this for San Francisco, however.
Phillips is coming off an ACL tear he suffered in Week 4 of last season. In 2023 he only played eight games because of an Achilles tear. He's also playing on his fifth-year option and would be due a fully-guaranteed $13,251,000 this season before hitting free agency in 2026.
A trade down in the draft makes a lot of sense for San Francisco depending on how the top 10 picks shake out. Taking a flier on Phillips is a significant risk given his injury history and the 49ers would probably be better off trying to acquire him for free as part of their trade down instead of giving up an early Day 3 pick in a year where they need to acquire young, cost-controlled talent for their roster.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers acquire $13 million DE from Dolphins in ESPN mock draft trade
