San Francisco, CA
49ers Listening to Trade Offers, Vikings–Giants Proposals for No. 3 Pick
Day 2 of the 2024 NFL draft is here and here’s what we know in front of Rounds 2 and 3 …
• The San Francisco 49ers are going to listen to offers for Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, but they’re not married to the idea of trading either of them. Selecting Florida receiver Ricky Pearsall, though, does give them a little more flexibility.
At a baseline, taking Pearsall with the 31st pick is a play for 2025. The team has Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings going into contract years, with Samuel signed through ’26. One way or the other, all three won’t be around a year from now, so getting top-end talent in the pipeline now makes sense for a team that doesn’t have many immediate needs.
The 49ers did look at the idea of trading back five or 10 spots for Pearsall. But chose not to due to the tackle supply running thin, a number of receiver-needy teams right behind them (Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Commanders could take one, too) and Xavier Worthy getting picked by the Kansas City Chiefs in front of them. Second, there was the benefit of getting the fifth-year option on Pearsall.
On the second point, you’d normally associate that concept with quarterbacks, but the events of the past week helped tip the scale here, with Amon-Ra St. Brown getting $28 million per year and A.J. Brown getting $32 million per, and Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase megadeals coming down the pike (eventually). Having the option helps the 49ers with Aiyuk (a late first-rounder in 2020), and lacking it hurts with Samuel (a high second-rounder in ’19), so there’s another reason for San Francisco to want it with Pearsall.
With Brock Purdy on his rookie contract, the Niners could easily keep everyone. But they could also move someone, and it could be Samuel, who might be more tradeable with the terms left on his contract, with a plan to keep Aiyuk, who’s viewed as the team’s best pure receiver. Either way, having Pearsall, who drew some comparisons to Adam Thielen with the team, gives San Francisco options.
So we’ll see how the next few hours work out.
• So much was made of the Commanders’ mass prospect summit—some 22 players were in town for their 30 visits at once and, yes, the festivities kicked off at Topgolf—and what it meant for Heisman Trophy candidate Jayden Daniels’s chances of, and desire for, landing in the nation’s capital.
Turns out, he did get some special attention.
All four quarterbacks in town got one-on-one time with the football operations people, but the LSU quarterback was the only one to have an extended, exclusive meeting with new owner Josh Harris. The Commanders kept that detail under wraps for obvious reasons as the draft neared, but it telegraphed what was obvious. Daniels was the pick at No. 2—and that was pretty much through the draft process.
The hire of ex-Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, a spread-offense guru, as offensive coordinator was another sign of it, as was the signing of Marcus Mariota to be the veteran bridge quarterback.
Which is to say all the hysteria just wound up being a blip.
• The Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants did make offers to the New England Patriots for the No. 3 pick to take Drake Maye. Earlier this week, Minnesota offered the Nos. 11 and 23 picks, and its 2025 first-rounder, with pick swaps favoring the Vikings as part of the proposal; and that offer ticked up with New England on the clock. The Giants, meanwhile, did wind up putting their 2025 first-round pick in their offer to move from No. 6 to No. 3.
Ultimately, nothing came close to moving the Patriots off their choice. In fact, that Kevin O’Connell and Brian Daboll were the head coaches interested, only emboldened New England to stay put.
The Giants, of course, got a weapon for Daniel Jones, selecting star receiver Malik Nabers. The Vikings, meanwhile, were emboldened to draw a line in the sand on trade terms, and work within their boundaries by the alternate plan to wait for J.J. McCarthy—knowing that the Atlanta Falcons had a visit with McCarthy canceled, the Giants were Maye-specific at the position, and the Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans, Chicago Bears and New York Jets wouldn’t take a quarterback—and use the trade-up assets to build around him. So they let the Michigan star come to them, flipping picks at ith the Jets just to be sure.
• A big part of why the Patriots selected Maye was his makeup, which they hope will lead to the development of his blue-chip traits.
The Patriots were immediately impressed with his football intelligence, and how driven he is by the sport. Then, there were the leadership qualities he very clearly brought to the table, and were displayed when New England drilled him on his 2023 struggles. With conditions around him changing after his breakout ’22 season, Maye’s play suffered last year. Yet, he refused to blame anyone else, player or coach, or anything else for any of it.
That kind of accountability went a long way for the Patriots staff.
• As for the quarterback who went after Maye with the eight pick, the Falcons did plenty of homework on Michael Penix Jr. A big group, led by GM Terry Fontenot, coach Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, flew from Atlanta to Seattle on the morning of April 6 to work Penix out privately, and to get to know him better.
Rumors thereafter percolated that the Falcons had fallen for Penix, who crushed the workout, and the McCarthy workout being called off solidified that they were a one-quarterback team like the Giants were with Maye.
Few figured the Falcons would actually take Penix at 8. Fewer knew just how much Atlanta liked him. He was the third quarterback on the Falcons’ board, behind only Chicago’s Caleb Williams and Daniels, and some in the organization actually had him second. And so with owner Arthur Blank said to be fond of the idea of having a succession plan at the position—something Atlanta lacked at the end with Matt Ryan—an idea became a reality.
• The Chargers’ decision to take Notre Dame OT Joe Alt may have been one of the simpler decisions any team made in the first round. Coming out of meeting with Alt, GM Joe Hortiz scrawled in his notes, You’d love to have this guy.
Now, he and coach Jim Harbaugh do.
Alt’s athleticism, length, presence, demeanor and intelligence painted the picture—in the Chargers’ eyes—of a guy with a very high floor nowhere near his ceiling. L.A. thinks he’ll get there because of his drive, and here’s where the Joe Thomas comps we had earlier in the week come into play. Thomas’s tape coming out of Wisconsin could be seen, at times, as unspectacular. But that was only because he was so smooth and athletic, and made things look easy. And where you could nitpick Thomas, he’d do the same, and fix problems.
All of that goes for Alt, too. Add that to the background of Harbaugh and Hortiz, who’ve always poured resources into their offensive line and the match was, again, easy.
• Two inquiries shot down over the past few weeks: The Chargers trading Justin Herbert (and a few teams called spurred by the idea that Harbaugh might go get McCarthy in the draft) and Washington trading the second pick.
• Iowa’s Cooper DeJean is among the best available players, and the Bills, sitting at 33, would be an excellent fit. Buffalo’s also taken calls on moving the pick.
• We mentioned Monday that Texas RB Jonathan Brooks could be in play for the Dallas Cowboys in the second round. Well, Jerry Jones said as much Thursday. Which means, if a teams wants him, it might want to take him ahead of Dallas, which picks at 56 tonight.
• How the tackles come off the board will be interesting, with New England (No. 34) and Washington (Nos. 36 and 40) having a big need, and Houston’s Patrick Paul, BYU’s Kingsley Suamataia and Washington’s Roger Rosengarten available, too.
The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.
One of San Francisco’s busiest freeways remained shut down Saturday, creating major traffic delays and dampening business for some local restaurants and shops.
All eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 just before the Bay Bridge are closed as crews work around the clock to rehabilitate the roadway. The 55-hour shutdown, which began on Friday night, is scheduled to last until Monday morning in time for the commute.
The closure has forced drivers onto detour routes, leading to heavy congestion for those trying to reach the East Bay, including Oakland and Berkeley.
The impact is being felt beyond the roadways.
At MoMo’s, a restaurant across from Oracle Park, staff found business noticeably slower.
“A little bit more mellow than usual. We usually see a little bit more foot traffic, a little bit more people on Saturdays,” said Daniel Bermudez, executive chef at MoMo’s.
Bermudez believes the freeway closure may be discouraging visitors from coming into the city this weekend, despite favorable weather.
“The weather is beautiful today. It’s nice and sunny. So we have plenty of tables outside,” he said.
With the San Francisco Giants playing an away game, the restaurant had hoped fans would still gather to watch, but turnout during game time remained light.
“This is kind of like our off-season Saturday. A lot slower than our baseball weekend,” said Casandra Alarcon, general manager at MoMo’s.
Other small businesses in the Mission Bay and South of Market neighborhoods reported similar trends, saying most of their customers are regulars who live nearby rather than visitors.
“A little bit slower for sure. Before, we had tourists come and walk to the baseball park,” said Ajaree Safron, manager at Brickhouse Cafe & Bar.
Caltrans has shut down eastbound lanes between 17th and 4th streets to repave the 71-year-old roadway. The goal is to extend the life of the Bayshore Freeway by another decade.
City and transportation officials said the timing of the closure was intentional, noting fewer major events scheduled in San Francisco this weekend, aside from the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Westbound lanes remain open, and officials said traffic heading into San Francisco from the East Bay has not been significantly affected.
“Getting into the city, it wasn’t too bad. Regular [traffic], what we expect on a Saturday morning,” said visitor Andrea Inouye.
While the closure has posed challenges for businesses, some workers said they are taking it in stride.
“Hopefully, it’s not for too long and we get past it, and get back to our normal routine,” Bermudez said.
Despite early concerns about widespread gridlock, transportation officials said the region has avoided the worst-case scenario. Traffic remains heavy in areas near detours, but the anticipated “carmageddon” has not materialized, in part because many drivers chose to avoid the area or take public transit.
Bay Area High School baseball fans are treated to a rare opportunity Saturday (April 18) with three games at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, including the famed Bruce-Mahoney clash between West Catholic Athletic League rivals St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The first pitch of the 20th annual Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic starts at 11 a.m. and pits two more San Francisco private schools as University (9-7), winners of four straight, taking on Riordan (5-11).
That will be followed by the Bruce-Mahoney game at 2:30 between St. Ignatius (12-5, 4-2 WCAL) and the Irish (7-10, 1-5) and finished off with a North Coast Section clash between North Bay’s Marin Catholic (9-7) against Acalanes (7-6-1).
The Benedetti Classic, founded by Dante’s Boys Foundation board member Tom Lounibos and Giants president Larry Baer, benefits the DBF which honors the spirit of Benedetti who for nearly 40 years owned San Francisco’s Mr. Baseball nickname for his kindness and generosity to baseball-playing youth in the area.
Among their philanthropic efforts are glove and baseball equipment drives, field renovations and contributions to scholarships and sponsorships.
After starting the season 0-4 — three of those losses were by one run — University, under head coach Andrew Suvunnachuen, has found its way, winning the last four, all in Bay Counties League play, by a combined 51-6 count over Lick-Wilmerding (16-1 and 11-3) and San Domenico (13-2 and 11-0).
Senior catcher and pitcher Jett Messenger leads the way with a .447 average, while getting on base at a .638 rate. He also leads the team with 20 stolen bases. Junior third baseman Tate Gebhart is hitting .419, while Leo Felder and Behbart share the RBI lead with 15 each.
Junior Matthew Foley is 3-2 on the mound with a 2.38 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.
Riordan, under second-year head coach Craig Sargent, was 5-5 in nonleague games but lost six straight in the rugged WCAL, losing two tough games this week to Mitty (3-2 and 7-4). Junior third baseman and pitcher Santiono Williams leads the team in batting average (.371), on-base percentage (.488) and stolen bases (nine). He’s also been the team’s top pitcher at 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA.
The teams have split two previous games in their history, with Riordan winning 2-0 in 2023 and University prevailing 5-0 in 2021.
St. Ignatius, led by ninth-year head coach Brian Pollzzie, has already secured the Bruce-Mahoney trophy with four straight wins — one each in football, girls volleyball, boys basketball and girls basketball — but this rivalry is always spirited.
The Wildcats, who are ranked fourth in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle, are coming off a tough 3-0 home loss to No. 2 St. Francis on Friday after beating the host Lancers 10-6 on Tuesday.
The team is led by Stanford-bound Archer Horn, who is hitting .486 with four home runs and a .604 on-base percentage. The shortstop and pitcher also has not allowed an earned run in three pitching appearances while registering one save.
Pitching is a team’s strength with a 2.59 ERA, led by a brigade of strong arms including Leo Rhein (2-0, 2.38), Tycco Giometti (2-1, 2.62), Charlie Stecher 1-1, 0.72) and Chase Gordon (1-0, 2.80). The team is missing standout Finn Demuth, out of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, led by fourth-year head coach Gregg Franceschi, has scored 60 runs on the season and given up 61. The Irish are coming off two losses to eighth-ranked Valley Christian (5-2 and 10-1).
They are led offensively by junior outfielder Brody O’Sullivan (.381) and senior infielder Jacob Vines (.378). Johnny Nepomuceno and Max Nylander are other run-producers. Zach Stallworth (37 strikeouts, 29.2 innings) and Cooper Rogers Lewis (0.25 ERA) have been the team’s top pitchers.
The series has been remarkably close since 2005 with Sacred Heart Cathedral holding a 27-20 edge, though St. Ignatius won both games last season (5-0 and 6-3) after the Irish won 9-7 and 1-0 in 2024.
Marin Catholic hopes to get back to winning after starting the season 9-1, but have since lost six straight, four in Marin County Athletic League play, including 4-2 to Novato on Thursday. Senior outfield Luke Martin is the team’s leading hitter at .478 while senior infielder and pitcher Cooper Mitchell is at .455. Senior infielder Walker Untermann leads the team with 15 RBIs.
Acalanes is at the other end of the spectrum, winners of five of six after a 2-5-1 start. Junior infielder Tyler Winkles, also a highly recruited quarterback in football, leads the team with a .383 average and nine stolen bases. Riley Gates (2-3, 2.49 ERA, 30 strikeouts) is the team’s top pitcher.
The teams have played three times, all since 2022, with Marin Catholic owning a 2-1 lead. Acalanes won last year’s game 8-7.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
-
West Virginia6 seconds agoThis week in West Virginia history: April 19-25
-
Wyoming6 minutes agoIdaho semitruck driver involved in fatal accident at Wyoming FlyingJ – East Idaho News
-
Crypto12 minutes agoUpcoming ‘Bitcoin’ Movie With Casey Affleck, Gal Gadot Probes Satoshi’s Identity
-
Finance18 minutes agoHong Kong reasserts role as safe haven in global finance amid Iran conflict
-
Fitness24 minutes agoHow the 3-3-3 Rule Helped Me Stick to an Exercise Routine
-
Movie Reviews36 minutes agoFILM REVIEW: ROSE OF NEVADA – Joyzine
-
World48 minutes ago
Oil prices rise anew after a US-Iran standoff in the Strait of Hormuz strands tankers
-
News54 minutes agoVideo: 8 Children Killed in Louisiana Shooting, Police Say
