NFL owners upset as 49ers capitalize on positive rule the league itself implemented
NFL owners seem to want more opportunities for minority people, but not beyond a certain degree. In a piece about San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and his path to a new Super Bowl, ESPN Senior Writer Seth Wickersham mentioned an intriguing piece of information. "We know he (Shanahan) can hire well and diverse," […]
NFL owners seem to want more opportunities for minority people, but not beyond a certain degree. In a piece about San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and his path to a new Super Bowl, ESPN Senior Writer Seth Wickersham mentioned an intriguing piece of information.
"We know he (Shanahan) can hire well and diverse," Wickersham wrote. "In fact, owners have complained to the league office about the sheer number of compensatory picks the 49ers have received for serving as a pipeline for coaches and executives of color."
And that was a rule the league implemented — and therefore, owners themselves agreed to — less than four years ago.
How it happened
In 2020, the NFL expanded the Rooney Rule to incentivize the development of minority coaches. With what is called "Resolution JC-2A", teams would receive compensatory third-round picks when their minority assistant coaches or executives were hired as head coaches or general managers elsewhere.
Nobody has taken advantage of that rule as well as the San Francisco 49ers. Since the new rule was implemented, San Francisco has received six third-rounders, and they are already slated to get another one in 2024. The 49ers got one pick in 2021, two in 2022, and three in 2023 for developing head coaches Robert Saleh and Mike McDaniel, plus general managers Martin Mayhew and Ran Carthon.
That allowed them, for example, to have more draft capital to execute the Christian McCaffrey trade during the 2022 season, as ESPN's Adam Schefter reported.
They used those picks to select cornerback Ambry Thomas, wide receiver Danny Gray, kicker Jake Moody, and tight end Cameron Latu. Moreover, one pick was included in the package to trade up and select quarterback Trey Lance in 2021, and another one was used in a trade up to get safety Ji'Ayir Brown last offseason.
McCaffrey wasn't necessarily acquired with any of these picks, but the surplus of draft capital facilitated the decision.
But that's 49ers' merits, after all. They were deservedly rewarded for the development of minority coaches, and that has proven to be a smart strategy for the NFL to incentivize the hiring of minority assistants and mid-level executives.
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