The hits keep coming for the San Francisco 49ers.
One month after losing Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs in dramatic fashion, the 49ers now find themselves being subjected to punishment from the NFL. According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the league has stripped San Francisco of its fifth-round pick in the 2025th draft and moved its 2024 fourth-round pick from No. 131 to the end of the round (No. 135) as a punishment for “administrative payroll accounting errors at the close of the 2022 league year that resulted in a misreporting of the club’s cumulative player compensation.”
Per Pelissero: “The NFL determined that the club would have remained under the salary cap at all times regardless of the error and there was no intent to circumvent the cap.”
The #49ers will forfeit their original fifth-round selection in the 2025 Draft and will have their 2024 fourth-round selection (#131) move to the end of the fourth round, behind the compensatory picks (#135).
This action resulted from a league review that found administrative…— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 18, 2024
While the 49ers might only be moving down four spots in the fourth round in this year’s draft, the loss of next year’s fifth-round pick is notable. Over the years, San Francisco president of football operations/general manager John Lynch has made a habit of finding key contributors in the middle-to-late rounds of the draft, including tight end George Kittle (fifth round in 2015) and quarterback Brock Purdy (seventh round in 2023).
Next year, the 49ers will have one less opportunity to make such a pick. It’s not surprising, however, that the NFL would want to send a strong message to San Francisco — and the rest of the league — regarding the importance of accurately reporting player compensation moving forward.
