The San Francisco 49ers might be reluctant to trade up in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft three years on from their huge move up the board for Trey Lance. San Francisco has not picked in the opening round since that now infamous missed swing and is likely keen to hold on to most of its 10 picks this year to refresh a roster that is increasingly top-heavy and expensive.

But there will be an understanding inside the building that, in Brock Purdy's final cheap year, the Niners need to balance planning for the future with aggressive moves that set their quarterback up for success.

ESPN's Field Yates has the 49ers making such a move in his latest mock draft, with the 49ers moving up from 31 to 24 in a trade with the Dallas Cowboys for Georgia tackle Amarius Mims.

Mims an immediate upgrade

Mims is one of the riskiest prospects in the draft, having only played eight games at Georgia and dealt with a number of injuries. However, he also has one of the highest ceilings of any prospect in the class, with his rare combination of size and physical ability enabling him to dominate in pass protection at right tackle, which stands as the 49ers' biggest need in the draft. 

Still only 21, Mims would be an immediate and substantial upgrade on Colton McKivitz's pass protection and has the upside to be a franchise cornerstone. In All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams, Mims would have the perfect mentor to help him realize his massive potential.

The question is whether the Cowboys, one the 49ers' chief rivals in the NFC, would be willing to do business with San Francisco again. The 49ers have claimed three successive victories over the Cowboys across the regular season and postseason, so helping the Niners make a move to improve their already stacked roster with a premium talent could be tough for Dallas to swallow.

Cost would also be a factor for the 49ers, though the trade value charts suggest they could get the deal done without giving up their second-round pick (63rd overall).

Lance pick could get it done

On the Jimmy Johnson chart, the 24th pick is worth 740 points with the 31st worth 600. 

That gap of 140 points could be bridged by packaging the 49ers' pick in the third round (94th overall, worth 124 points), in which they have typically struggled, and the fourth-rounder (124th overall, 48 points) they got from Dallas in the trade that sent Lance to the Cowboys. San Francisco would technically be overpaying by 32 points, so could theoretically ask for another pick back from the Cowboys, whose fifth-rounder (174th overall) is worth 20.2 points. The 49ers have consistently unearthed gems in the fifth round.

Using the Rich Hill chart, the gap between the two picks is 47 points. The 31st pick is worth 190 and the 24th is worth 237. The 94th pick (41 points) and San Francisco's fifth-rounder (176th overall, seven points) would be enough to get the job done.

It's a move up that is certainly doable, though it is entirely reliant on Mims falling past the 20s. Were he to do so, there's also the distinct possibility that a Cowboys team that bid farewell to Tyron Smith this offseason would take him themselves.

But in the scenario put forward in this mock, the biggest draft miss of the Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch era could be key in helping them take another huge swing.

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