Niner Noise

● By Peter Panacy
The 2024 NFL Draft recently concluded, and the San Francisco 49ers took home eight players they ultimately hope turn into key contributors and stars for the next four-plus years. Of course, no draft class is completely perfect, and the nature of the league means that addressing needs now will ultimately turn over other needs that need to be addressed in the not-so-distant future. Currently, the Niners have six picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Because of a payroll error, the league docked San Francisco its fifth-round selection next year, but the 49ers are expected to receive three compensatory picks because of the loss of qualifying free agents and due to the Rooney Rule, which rewarded the 49ers for developing assistants (Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans and Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon) who were hired elsewhere.