For the second year in a row, the San Francisco 49ers did not have a first-round pick, as they traded the selection to the Miami Dolphins in a deal that ultimately netted the team Trey Lance. In 2022, the 49ers’ first was eventually used by the New England Patriots on Cole Strange, as it was traded to Foxboro via Kansas City, who acquired it from Miami as part of the Tyreek Hill trade, and in 2022, the pick followed a similar path, landing in New Orleans, where they drafted Bryce Bresee, a player Pro Football Focus considered to be an “average value” at pick 29.
“A talented player on the defensive interior, Bresee is coming off a season where he posted a career-high 82.0 PFF pass-rushing grade,” PFF wrote. “He can play across multiple spots on the interior and even has some experience playing outside the tackles.”
After losing David Onyemata, Marcus Davenport, Shy Tuttle, and Kentavius Street in free agency, with only Nathan Shepherd and Khalen Saunders signed to take their place, the Saints needed additional talent on the defensive line heading into the 2023 NFL Draft to pair up with aging star Cameron Jordan. Though Bresee alone won’t solve the team’s problems, his versatility should help to take up snaps moving forward.
The 49ers’ 1st-Round Pick Hit the Road
When the Niners traded their first-round pick to the Miami Dolphins in 2021 for the pick eventually used to draft Trey Lance, they likely didn’t expect the selection would eventually be used by the Saints.
Initially traded to the Dolphins on March 26, 2021, after the 49ers recorded a rare non-playoff season, Miami eventually moved the pick to the Denver Broncos in a much larger deal that sent Bradley Chubb back to South Beach. From there, the Broncos opted to trade the pick too, this time not for a player but a new head coach; sending pick 29 to the Saints for the contract rights to Sean Payton, who subsequently agreed to a new five-year deal “in the neighborhood of $18 million per season,” according to Peter King.
The surrendering even more draft capital to acquire Christian McCaffrey at the 2022 NFL trade deadline, the 49ers are slated to make their first pick at 99, with two more selections coming at 101 and 102.
The Saints Earned Average Marks in 1st-Round Quick-Snap
Evaluating how every team used their draft capital on Day 1 of the 2023 NFL draft – the 49ers earned a C+ – NFL.com Draft Analyst Chad Reuter gave the Saints a B- grade for the selection of Bresee, with the talent evaluator knocking the team for trading up for Chris Olave in 2022.
“The Saints gave up their first-rounder in this year’s draft in a trade with the Eagles prior to last year’s draft,” Reuter wrote. “New Orleans used draft capital from that trade to move up for Chris Olave last year. Olave’s a fine player, but the Eagles have to feel good about that deal right now. New Orleans received a first-round pick from Denver for former head coach Sean Payton, though, using that pick on Bresee. I’m not sure he will be an elite player, but Bresee is the sort of interior player the Saints needed. Hopefully, he will be able to put some of the injury woes he dealt with in college behind him.”
As Reuter pointed out in the preface to his evaluation, it’s impossible to thoroughly grade a draft class on draft night, with years needed to truly see how picks pan out. Still, a B- is the eighth-lowest grade Reuter handed out in his evaluations, with the Niners earning only one grade lower for not making a pick at all. After losing a top-10 selection to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022, Bresee clearly didn’t live up to Reuter’s expectations.
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Saints Add Defensive Help With 49ers’ Previous 1st-Round Pick