Well that’s a bummer. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Dallas Cowboys by a 19-12 margin to advance to the NFC championship game on Sunday night, which impacts the draft picks the Denver Broncos could trade for former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton.
Denver controls the 49ers’ first round pick in the 2023 draft by way of a trade with the Miami Dolphins, who got it back in 2021 when San Francisco vaulted up the board for quarterback prospect Trey Lance. That pick will fall somewhere between Nos. 29 and 32 depending on whether the 49ers make it to the Super Bowl and claim a victory, and it figures to be the cornerstone of a trade with New Orleans. Denver also has a pair of picks in the third round this year, plus all of their selections in the top three rounds in the 2024 draft.
Payton has suggested before that the Saints are looking to get a first round pick in the back half of that frame, drawing on conversations with general manager Mickey Loomis, and this Broncos-pick-from-49ers-via-Dolphins trade would line up with that expectation. Of course it would be the biggest asset in a trade package, with the Saints hoping to net a couple of mid-round picks to balance things out. If your goal is for New Orleans to get as many picks as possible out of trading Payton, Denver might be your best bet, even if their top pick ends up falling very late in the first round.