Per Tom Pelissero, Rams long-time rival penalized for administrative errors

If you believed that the 2024 NFL Draft order was set, that is not entire true. The NFL has detected errors in the compensation report submitted by the LA Rams NFC West Division rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, from the 2022 NFL season. And so, with those errors now detected, the only thing left to sort out is the penalty imposed on them.

The San Francisco 49ers hold 10 draft picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, which now shifts their pick in Round 4 from the 131st to the 135th spot. The team must also surrender their 2024 NFL Draft pick in Round 5:

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

In terms of draft value? In 2024, the 49ers penalty will lower their value from 41 to 38.5. That is the equivalent to an early Round 7 pick. The greater impact of this penalty will be imposed on the 49ers in the 2025 NFL Draft. Not only do they outright lose their 2025 NFL Draft pick in Round 5, but the impact will reduce their number of picks from their original allotment of seven picks down to six.

This won't cripple the 49ers organization. I'm not even sure that a loss of a pick in Round 5 can even be considered much of a speed bump to their football team. But their window of opportunity is shrinking.

Right now, the San Francisco 49ers roster is buoyed with the incredibly cheap contract of starting quarterback Brock Purdy. As long as Purdy remains healthy and starts, the 49ers have better than a $30 million advantage over other NFL teams. At least through 2025. You see, that is the year that Brock Purdy plays his last NFL season on a ridiculously cheap rookie contract.

When that contract expires, the 49ers will need to pay him fair market value. That will have the effect of limiting the amount of money the team can pay veterans at other positions. When that happens, the 49ers will miss any draft picks lost due to avoidable accounting errors.

No, it won't be enough to cripple the 49ers. But it won't help their futile quest for a Super Bowl victory either. In the end, any setback to a division rival is good news for the LA Rams.

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