The San Francisco 49ers have openly admitted that they were interested in acquiring Odell Beckham Jr before he was sent to the Cleveland Browns, but apparently the New York Giants never gave them an opportunity to submit their best offer.
Niners GM John Lynch said recently that he believes his team having the No. 2 overall pick actually hurt its chances of trading for Beckham, as the Giants wanted a first-round pick but San Francisco’s was too high to part with. In an in-depth look at how the Browns landed Beckham, ESPN’s Pat McManamon and Jordan Raanan reported that the 49ers were “stunned” Giants GM Dave Gettleman sent Beckham to Cleveland without contacting them for a best and final offer.
Perhaps Gettleman was insulted by his initial dealings with Lynch. According to the ESPN report, the Niners were unwilling to part with their first-round pick. They expressed interest in swapping their No. 2 pick for New York’s No. 6 as part of a potential Beckham trade, but a Giants source said “teams were trying to see if they could steal (Beckham).” The 49ers did, however, have “deep interest” in the star receiver and felt they had plenty of time to continue discussions with the draft still a long way away.
In the end, Gettleman stopped communicating with Lynch days before he completed a deal with the Browns.
Lynch basically admitted that he wanted to acquire Beckham but not another top receiver on the trade market, so it makes sense that he would have been open to offering more. However, that is the risk you take with not putting your best offer on the table right off the bat.
