On Friday, the 49ers made a dramatic move up in the draft, presumably for a quarterback, facilitated by the Dolphins who still remain in strong position thanks to the Eagles who withdraw from elite QB consideration.

We have complete coverage in each team’s section.

Here, Jordan Dajani of CBSSports.com declares winners and losers from the deals:

Let’s identify some winners and losers from Friday’s trades, starting with incoming quarterback Zach Wilson.

Winner: Zach Wilson

Even if these trades did not occur on Friday, Wilson would still be a winner. He was taking part in BYU’s Pro Day while the trades were going down, and the young signal-caller put on a show.

With the 49ers trading all the way up to No. 3 overall, it’s fair to assume that Kyle Shanahan and Co. are eyeing a quarterback. You aren’t going to give up two future first-round picks to draft a linebacker. Many believe Wilson will go No. 2 overall to the New York Jets, but if that doesn’t happen, you have to imagine the 49ers will jump on the chance to select him. Wilson was a big winner on Friday because it appears he is locked into the top three. Congratulations, sir.

Loser: Jimmy Garoppolo

As we mentioned, it appears the 49ers are all-in on selecting a quarterback at No. 3 overall. That obviously is not good news for San Francisco’s current quarterback, Garoppolo. A “49ers source” told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday, “Jimmy is here to stay. He’s our guy this year.” I know I’m not alone in saying that I don’t believe that statement.

While general manager John Lynch has said that he has no doubt Garoppolo will be with the 49ers in 2021, we have heard plenty of general managers say the same thing only to trade away their starter a month later. Could the 49ers draft someone like Justin Fields out of Ohio State or Trey Lance out of North Dakota State and have them sit under Garoppolo? Sure, that’s possible. Even in that hypothetical, however, the pressure on Garoppolo would reach unprecedented levels. But hey, maybe Friday could actually mean something good for Garoppolo. Is it possible he could be playing football in New England in 2021?

Winner: Tua Tagovailoa

The former No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft had an up-and-down rookie campaign. He was coming off of a serious hip injury, and even after Tagovailoa was inserted into the starting lineup in Week 8 and won three straight games, head coach Brian Flores opted to bench him in Week 11 and then again in Week 16. In all, Tagovailoa went 6-3 as a starter and threw for 1,814 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.

With the Dolphins holding the No. 3 overall pick thanks to the Houston Texans, it was always a question whether they were going to consider taking a quarterback like Wilson or Fields. Additionally, with Deshaun Watson looking for a change of scenery, Tagovailoa’s future appeared to be at least somewhat in jeopardy. Now, with the Dolphins trading down and with Watson facing an uncertain future due to off-field issues, it became clear on Friday that Tagovailoa’s job is safe for 2021. Not only that, but it appears Miami is set on building around him.

Loser: Carolina Panthers

The Panthers were reportedly one of the teams most interested in acquiring Watson, which shows that they are looking for a change under center. With the Panthers holding the No. 8 overall pick, they have the opportunity to take a new starting quarterback there, but the options the Panthers once thought they would have may not be there anymore.

Trevor Lawrence is going No. 1 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and let’s assume for a second that Wilson is going to the Jets. It once looked like the Panthers would have the chance to take the third quarterback in the draft — whether that be Fields, Lance or Mac Jones out of Alabama. As we mentioned, Friday’s activity shows the 49ers are in on a quarterback — but that’s not the only bad news. Recently, CBS NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reported that he had spoken to a few general managers who believe the first four picks in the 2021 NFL Draft could very well be quarterbacks, with the Atlanta Falcons selecting Matt Ryan’s successor at No. 4 overall. Carolina’s options at quarterback are waning, and you have to wonder if we will see another team trade up into that top 10 to get the signal-caller they are after.

Winner: Jalen Hurts

Similar to Tagovailoa’s situation, the Eagles trading down to No. 12 overall guarantees that Hurts will be the starting quarterback in 2021. That’s definitely notable, but the Eagles were in fact reportedly interested in Wilson and doing something similar to what the 49ers did on Friday. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Eagles felt Wilson was a strong prospect, but for where they are, they felt like moving back and collecting a future first-round pick was a better way to build a team.

Loser: Houston Texans

First-round draft picks are incredibly valuable, and the Texans are learning that right now. The No. 3 overall pick the Dolphins traded away on Friday originally came from the Texans in the Laremy Tunsil deal, and Miami has received incredible return from that trade. Meanwhile, the Texans are entering a serious rebuild without a first-round pick.

NFC EAST

PHILADELPHIA

Bill Barnwell on the Eagles deal with Miami:

The Eagles dropping from No. 6 to No. 12 tells us …

1. They’re (probably) not drafting a quarterback in the first round. If you have Jalen Hurts on your fantasy team, the decision to sign Joe Flacco and then make this trade tells you what you need to know. The Eagles seem set to start Hurts in 2021, hoping that the return of most of the offensive line and a full offseason of work as the starter will help him grow into the role. I thought the Eagles would be open to a quarterback at No. 6 and might even have traded up if they had fallen in love with a prospect — as they did with Carson Wentz even after re-signing Sam Bradford in 2016 — but this move almost surely takes a quarterback off the table.

At No. 12, the Eagles should still be able to add a receiver or help on the defensive side of the ball. It takes them out of the running for Pitts, but with general manager Howie Roseman expected to sign Dallas Goedert to an extension this offseason, Philly would have been investing too much of their limited assets at tight end. The Eagles, who are sorely lacking in cheap talent, needed the extra first-round pick in 2022 more than they needed any one individual player this season.

2. Philly is positioned to move in 2022. This season will realistically be a transition year for the Eagles, who will be evaluating Hurts and trying to figure out what their core is going to look like in the years to come. The NFC East will be wide open, and there’s always a chance that a healthy Philly team surprises, but once it traded Wentz and decided to eat nearly $34 million in dead money on its 2021 cap, it signaled that the first priority this offseason was righting the ship.

Now, next offseason, the Eagles could be in business. They’re projected to have more than $31 million in cap space and will have both their own first-rounder and Miami’s first-round pick. If Hurts plays well, the Eagles will be in great shape to build around their new quarterback. If they struggle, the Eagles should have a high pick and an extra first-rounder to throw around if they want to move up. They could also have a third first-rounder from the Colts if Wentz plays well in Indy.

NFC SOUTH

ATLANTA

What now for Atlanta?

Peter King and Bill Barnwell have different thoughts.  First, King:

I keep hearing Atlanta’s leaning QB, with logic having Lance sitting behind Matt Ryan for two years, then playing.

Bill Barnwell:

Suddenly, the Falcons — who own the No. 4 pick — find themselves in an interesting position. They reportedly had talks with the 49ers but didn’t get a deal done, which could work to their advantage. With the 49ers expected to draft a quarterback at No. 3, the Falcons will have their pick of all the non-quarterbacks on the board. They’ll also still have two of Fields, Lance, Wilson, and Jones to choose from, meaning that there will still be at least two promising quarterback prospects available with the fourth pick.

Are the Falcons likely to pick a quarterback? It’s always possible, but my instincts say no. Atlanta restructured Matt Ryan’s deal this offseason to create short-term cap space, a move which makes moving on from their veteran in 2022 prohibitive. They would now owe $40.6 million in dead money on their cap if they let Ryan leave next year. They could spread that amount over two years by making Ryan a post-June 1 release, but why would they choose to put themselves in a difficult cap situation if they were planning on drafting a quarterback and letting Ryan leave one year after a restructure? I don’t think drafting a passer and letting him sit behind Ryan for two years makes much sense, either.

Could they trade this pick to a team that wants a quarterback? Absolutely. The Falcons could go best player available and draft Sewell or one of the receivers at four, but none of those players fit Atlanta’s needs. They already have an entrenched left tackle in Jake Matthews and just used two first-rounders on offensive linemen in 2019. With Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley around, wide receiver isn’t a need. Pitts is a possibility, but the Falcons could lock up Hayden Hurst to take care of tight end.

This team badly needs to invest in defensive help, and that’s a place they would be better served later in the first round. Trading down would get a top-heavy, cap-strapped team valuable draft picks while still allowing them to address their biggest positions of weakness. And with the first three picks now presumably locked in as quarterbacks, the Falcons are the team you have to call if you want to trade up for a passer.

At the same time, there just aren’t many teams left who would be in line to make that trade. The Panthers and Saints are off the board as divisional rivals. The Patriots won’t trade up if they get Garoppolo. The Steelers don’t have enough in terms of draft pick capital to make it worth Atlanta’s while. You’re looking at the Broncos, Washington and the Bears as the only three viable trade partners for the Falcons at No. 4.

NFC WEST

SAN FRANCISCO

Bill Barnwell on why the 49ers moved up at a cost:

The 49ers moved up from No. 12 to No. 3. What’s their plan?

1. They’re almost definitely drafting a quarterback. Teams don’t trade three first-round picks unless they’re moving up to take a quarterback. We’ve seen teams trade two first-rounders and more for established young stars such as Tunsil and Jamal Adams, but three first-rounders is another level up. I think there’s approximately a 99.9% chance the 49ers made this move because they want a franchise quarterback.

With that being said, if any team serves as an outlier in terms of how they value certain players, it would be the 49ers. They’ve paid over the odds in free agency for Kyle Juszczyk, Jerick McKinnon and Kwon Alexander, handing out deals well beyond what would have been expected to grab “their” guy. When the 49ers had the No. 2 overall pick in 2017, they traded down one spot with the Bears in the hopes that they would be able to still draft the guy they wanted, Solomon Thomas. If the Bears drafted Thomas with the second overall pick, the 49ers were reportedly prepared to draft inside linebacker Reuben Foster with the third pick. In addition to passing on future stars Watson and Patrick Mahomes, the 49ers were clearly not concerned about positional scarcity in drafting Foster so highly. (They eventually drafted Foster at No. 31.)

Kyle Shanahan loves having weapons who mask his intentions before the snap while allowing him to create big plays after the snap, which is why he loves Juszczyk and receivers who can run after the catch. George Kittle gives him arguably the best tight end in football when healthy, and adding Pitts to that formula would turn the 49ers’ offense into a matchup nightmare on every single snap. The Falcons would have been at least considering Pitts at No. 4, which would have forced the 49ers to move up to get ahead of them. It’s incredibly unlikely, but with the 49ers at least publicly suggesting for now that they want to hold onto Jimmy Garoppolo, I wanted to at least mention the possibility, as slim as it is.

2. So, about that quarterback. While the 49ers can’t guarantee that they’ll get a specific quarterback at No. 3, they probably have a pretty good idea of what’s going to be on the board. The Jags are taking Trevor Lawrence at No. 1. The Jets are likely drafting a quarterback at No. 2, and they just hired Robert Saleh and a handful of other former 49ers’ coaches to run the organization. Those two teams are competitors, but with the Jets on the other side of the country and in the AFC, my guess is that the 49ers have a decent idea of what the Jets are thinking.

Depending on the player the Jets pick at No. 2, the 49ers will have at least three of Zach Wilson, Trey Lance Justin Fields and Mac Jones on the board at No. 3. Wilson seems the favorite to land with the Jets, which would leave Fields, Lance and Jones on the board. Lance is coming off a wasted season and was at a lower level of competition at North Dakota State. Jones is regarded as the more pro-ready option after spending last season as Alabama’s starter, although he doesn’t have the same sort of ceiling as Lance. Fields falls somewhere in the middle.

I’m convinced all of this means nothing. We aren’t very good judges of who is and is not pro-ready; Daniel Jones was regarded as pro-ready in 2019 and still doesn’t look like he’s expecting the pass rush to come after him on any given snap. Josh Rosen was arguably the most pro-ready passer of the five first-rounders in 2018 and you know how that’s gone. (If it wasn’t Rosen, the most pro-ready passer of the five would have been Sam Darnold, and that hasn’t gone much better.)

As for Lance, I’m still waiting for the team that actually takes a quarterback in the top five and sits him for a year. Remember that the Eagles talked about this with Carson Wentz, who preceded Lance at North Dakota State, while planning to use Bradford and/or Chase Daniel as their starters in 2016. Wentz fractured a rib in his first preseason game, sat out the rest of the summer, and … the Eagles traded Bradford just before the season and immediately installed Wentz as their Week 1 starter. Blake Bortles and Josh Allen were supposed to be projects and they were in the lineup before the end of September. Mahomes is a very, very rare exception to the rule, and that was because the Chiefs were already in a comfortable position with Alex Smith. If the 49ers think Lance is the better long-term quarterback, they’ll take him, regardless of who is deemed more pro-ready before the draft.

2. Going with a cheaper option at quarterback helps the 49ers go after talent now. I wrote about the value of quarterbacks on rookie deals all the way back in 2013, when teams transformed around guys such as Colin Kaepernick, Cam Newton and Russell Wilson. Nothing has changed over the ensuing few years, and as Wentz and Jared Goff have flamed out after signing extensions, the value of going cheap at quarterback and surrounding that passer with talent has grown even more obvious. One team will eventually cycle through cheap options at quarterback and use the picks from trading that passer to get the next prospect. The 49ers, with their offensive braintrust, could be that team.

More realistically, getting Fields or Lance for the next few years on a fraction of their actual value allows the 49ers to be more aggressive in building their roster. They already brought back Trent Williams on a massive contract, making the star left tackle the highest-paid lineman in league history. The Niners also re-signed Juszczyk and Jason Verrett, but they still have work to do. Richard Sherman is a free agent. Fred Warner is in the final year of his deal and about to get a massive raise. Nick Bosa and Deebo Samuel will be up for new deals after 2021.

Going with a cheaper option at quarterback allows them to bring back as many of those guys as possible. It also encourages them to go into the free-agent market for the pieces which remain; there are plenty of players still available at edge rusher and cornerback, the latter of which remains a need for the Niners. They should also be able to hold on to just about anyone they want who is coming up for a new deal in the years to come.

3. Garoppolo’s days in San Francisco are numbered. When I wrote about the 49ers last fall, I mentioned that holding onto Garoppolo for 2021 at his current figure made no sense. He has struggled to stay healthy as a pro, with 2019 as his only full campaign without suffering a significant injury. When healthy, while he has been good, he hasn’t been a transcendent talent. The 49ers were not typically a pass-first team in 2019 and didn’t trust him in critical situations, most notably at the end of the first half in the Super Bowl two seasons ago.

Because the 49ers structured Garoppolo’s deal with a huge roster bonus as opposed to a huge signing bonus, general manager John Lynch & Co. also left themselves with an easy out if they did want to move on from the former Eastern Illinois quarterback. Garoppolo is owed $25 million in 2021, all of which is unguaranteed. If the 49ers want to move on from him, they’ll only owe $2.8 million in dead money, giving the team all the flexibility in the world if they want to make a deal.

Early reports have suggested that the 49ers won’t trade him, which is the sort of thing teams say when they don’t want a player’s trade value to crater. I’m extremely skeptical. Saving that $25 million frees up cap space for the 49ers to build a Super Bowl contender around their first-round pick while retaining guys like Warner. Garoppolo wouldn’t get anywhere close to that sort of money if he’s released, which gives the 49ers leverage to try and force him to take a pay cut. I could see him returning on a reworked contract, one where he has a reduced price tag of around $10 million in 2021 before hitting unrestricted free agency in 2022.

Garappolo has his own leverage, as a no-trade clause in 2021 precludes the 49ers from trading him without his approval. Naturally, he isn’t going to want to be in a lame-duck situation and end up spending a year on the bench, but he’s also not going to go somewhere for the sake of making the 49ers cap-compliant and happy. There’s a middle ground that would satisfy all parties, as you already know …

The DB has been thinking that QB MAC JONES fits what the Niners do best.  Chris Simms, who might be privy to Kyle Shanahan’s mind, has the same thoughts through Peter King:

1) Jimmy Garoppolo will have a chance, it appears, to beat back a challenge from the quarterback San Francisco drafts a month from tonight. The Niners, as of today, do not plan to trade Garoppolo before the season. An offer to blow them away could get Garoppolo—Carolina? New England?—but otherwise, Garoppolo and the new man will be in camp for the Niners in August. The 49ers have played very nice with Garoppolo since the end of the season, with GM John Lynch saying several times Garoppolo is their guy. Well, there’s a cost for going cold down the stretch of the Super Bowl season, and for missing 23 of the 48 regular-season games over the past three years. The cost is drafting a man likely to beat him out. The Niners are no longer willing to let a quarterback injury ruin their season.

It seems stunning to think Alabama’s Mac Jones could be the Niners’ choice—and “could be” is the operative phrase because the Niners have not decided who to choose at three. You can expect Lynch or coach Kyle Shanahan to say that today when they meet with the local press for the first time since January. But Jones is in the mix. Friend-of-Shanahan Chris Simms, an NBC Sports analyst, wasn’t predicting Jones would be the Niners’ guy when we talked Saturday, but he said: “Where Mac fits that offense perfectly is that Kyle will give him one or two clues about what the defense will do on a play, and the results will be top notch for Mac when he executes the play. He has Joe Burrow-type reading of the defense. Plus, other than Zach Wilson, Mac is the best bullseye-thrower in the draft.” If not Jones, my best guess is Trey Lance, athletic and strong-armed, would be the pick here.

On the other hand, Chris Trapasso of CBSSports.com thinks it is Ohio State QB JUSTIN FIELDS whom the 49ers should be lusting over:

Given their new luxurious position in the 2021 NFL Draft, let’s evaluate the top quarterback prospects — not named Trevor Lawrence — from a San Francisco fit perspective.

4. Mac Jones, Alabama

Fit: Decent

Jones wins with quick decisions and high-level ball placement — and that combination translates to any system. With Shanahan those elements of playing the quarterback position are vital than other attacks like prioritize pushing the football down the field.

As we saw at Alabama, Jones can get the most out of a quarterback-friendly system. Just two years after Tua Tagovailo’s breakout season with the Crimson Tide in 2018, Jones was more efficient completing passes and had a higher yards per attempt average with a better touchdown-to-interception ratio. In short, Jones would produce with Shanahan.

However, he’s technically the worst fit of the top four quarterback prospects in this class because he’s clearly the least athletic with the most limited throw-on-the-run skill. Shanahan’s offense, that features plenty of bootlegs, and those simply aren’t strengths of Jones’ game.

3. Zach Wilson, BYU

Fit: Good

Wilson in 49ers gold would be something. He’s an inherently athletic quarterback with a live arm and there’s not a throw on the field he can’t make. At BYU, Wilson awesomely operated a wide-zone based offense with many elements similar to Kyle Shanahan’s in San Francisco — lots of play action, rollouts, and many quick throws over the middle that by design accentuate yards after the catch.

Last season, Jimmy Garoppolo finished with the NFL’s ninth-highest play-action rate. In the Super Bowl run of 2019, he had the league’s fourth-highest figure. In 2020 with the Cougars, Wilson attempted the 14th-most play-action passes in college football. He completed 72.4% of those throws — second-highest figure among the quarterbacks in the top 30 of play-action passes. Beyond that, Wilson tossed 20 touchdowns with 0 — yes, 0 — interceptions at a bulky 12.39 yards per attempt when first faking a handoff to the running back. Bananas.

Essentially, Wilson wouldn’t have much of a proverbial learning curve entering Shanahan’s offense.

The one element that makes this fit “good” instead of “great” — Wilson’s improvisational tendencies. They’re a big part of why Wilson is so highly regarded in this top-heavy quarterback class. Shanahan’s scheme doesn’t necessarily welcome routine ad-libbing. It’s an offense that prefers designed movement for its quarterback by way of the rollout over off-script tosses when the first read is covered. While I doubt Shanahan would discourage Wilson’s creativity altogether, yet the system is so well-conceived, it likely wouldn’t tap into Wilson’s full improvisational prowess. 

2. Trey Lance, North Dakota State

Fit: Great

Lance has an All-Pro skill set. Is that skill set fully cultivated yet? Absolutely not. And that’s totally understandable — he was 19 years old in his only full year as the Bison’s starter.

Lance has the strongest arm in the 2021 class, and he’s a naturally explosive, ultra-athletic ball carrier, particularly in the designed run game. The North Dakota offense asked him to throw the ball off play action quite often. In most scenarios he was only reading one side of the field and frequently ripped it to his first read. Even for a very green passer, all of that specific experience caters well to what Shanahan would ask of him. Because of his arm and deep-ball touch, Lance would give the 49ers offense a new layer.

There are two aspects of what Lance provides as a passer today makes him a “great” not “amazing” fit. First off, he’s probably a year — or maybe two — away from being a competent NFL starter, and the 49ers would be reaching a bit if they believe they’re Super Bowl contenders once again in 2021. Secondly, in San Francisco, it’s unlikely that the entire array of his skill set would be tapped into. Lance was Cam Newton Lite at North Dakota State in 2019, and Shanahan’s system simply doesn’t — or at least hasn’t yet — called for that from its quarterback.

1. Justin Fields, Ohio State

Fit: Amazing

The football lover in me wants to see Fields in Shanahan’s offense. The fit couldn’t be better on paper. Fields would instantly be the most naturally gifted quarterback Shanahan’s ever coached. His pinpoint accuracy and aggressiveness to the first read are tailor-made for the 49ers offense.

Plus, Fields is a super-smooth athlete who’s phenomenal throwing on the run. In 2020 with the Buckeyes, Fields attempted 33 passes on designed rollouts — the 12th-most in college football — and completed 29 of them at 9.18 yards per attempt with four touchdowns and an interception. That 87.9% completion rate on designed rollouts was the second-highest rate among the 44 passers who attempted at least 20 of those throws. Fields was no slouch of play action either — he connected on 74% of his 77 attempts at a hefty 11.78 yards per attempt with nine touchdowns and one pick.

Lastly, Fields’ weaknesses would presumably be masked in Shanahan’s system. At times, Fields’ processing slows after the first read. No play-caller designed more open initial looks than Shanahan. While capable of outstanding escapes from defenders in the backfield, Fields leans more toward utilizing his legs than finding open wideouts in scramble-drill situations.

More from King:

2) Dueling Pro Days on Tuesday might provide a clue. For QB-seekers, what to do when the Pro Days of Mac Jones at Alabama and Justin Fields at Ohio State both happen on Tuesday? I hear the Niners will split the baby, with Lynch and Shanahan expected to attend the Jones workout, while assistant GM Adam Peters likely will lead a small delegation in Columbus to scout Fields. Not sure I would infer huge meaning to that, but it could be significant. How I view it: Jones could be the leader, but it’s not over.

3) So what, exactly, motivated San Francisco to pay so exorbitantly, and to do it a month before the draft? I am going to read some tea leaves now, based on knowing the parties involved. Follow the logic:

• Miami GM Chris Grier has proven adept at maximizing compensation for his assets.

• The 49ers were bound and determined to get one of these quarterbacks, and so knew they’d have to trade up to 2, 3 or 4 to do so.

• The fact that Deshaun Watson was not in the trade mix anymore because of the 20 sexual-assualt or sexual-harassment cases pending against him meant that the team or teams that considered Watson an option now wouldn’t be able to deal for him, at this time anyway.

• So a team thought to be very interested in Watson, Carolina, now would have to look elsewhere if determined to upgrade on Teddy Bridgewater in time for the 2021 season.

With all those motivational pieces in place, the Niners likely knew they’d have to overpay to move from 12 to the third overall pick, and the Dolphins just as likely knew that they could push hard for the two future number-one picks. That’s my interpretation of what happened here.

Mike Florio looks at QB JIMMY GAROPPOLO’s position:

Given that he’s now on the endangered species list in San Francisco, what does Jimmy Garoppolo want?

In the immediate aftermath of the San Francisco climb up the NFL’s version of Lombard Street from No. 12 to No. 3, the debate focused on whether the 49ers would trade or cut Garoppolo before or after the 2021 season. Even the staunchest members of pro-Garoppolo crowd will concede that, at best, he’s Alex Smith in 2017 — unless of course the 49ers somehow get back to or win the Super Bowl with Garoppolo and have no choice but to see three first-round picks and a third-round pick sit on the bench for a second season.

Garoppolo’s reaction to the move becomes a fairly important consideration for the 49ers. He’s suddenly Tom Brady in 2014, with something far more threatening than a second-round pick from a Directional Illinois school loitering on the depth chart. By all appearances and indications, Brady got pissed when Garoppolo showed up. Garoppolo, seven years later, has to ask himself whether it makes sense to shut up and to internalize it and to use it as motivation to make the best case to continue his career elsewhere in 2022 or to agitate for a way out, now.

His best move will be to go with the flow, if the 49ers somehow are willing to pay a guy who has missed 23 games over the last three seasons $25 million for 2021. He surely has a better chance to maximize his future earnings if he plays and plays well this season, given that he didn’t play much in 2020. But if/when the 49ers try to get him to take less (that request may not come until it’s too late for him to find as much elsewhere), he needs to ask whether he’ll absorb yet another indignity from his current team or begin his search for a new one.

The idea that the 49ers would give up so much to move up to get Garoppolo’s replacement but then keep him on the team in 2021 continues to make little sense. But plenty of teams do plenty of things that outsiders don’t fully understand. In this specific case, one thing that isn’t known is whether Garoppolo will react to this latest twist with a shrug or something more aggressive.

Again, as long as the 49ers are willing to pay him $25 million (and they shouldn’t be), Garoppolo should embrace his changing circumstances. The moment they ask him to take less (and they should), Garoppolo should start considering whether it makes more sense to look for a new beginning or to trudge forward with a season that could eventually see him benched for whoever the 49ers draft at No. 3.

For now, Garoppolo should at least consider forcing the question of whether the 49ers plan to ask him to take less. If his agent poses that question to the team, any answer other than “no” should be interpreted as “yes, eventually.”

AFC WEST

KANSAS CITY

The Chiefs have signed DT JARRAN REED.  Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Chiefs bolstered their defense Sunday, agreeing to terms on a one-year deal with defensive tackle Jarran Reed, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.

The contract is worth up to $7 million with $5 million guaranteed.

Reed, whom the Seahawks cut Friday, reunites with Frank Clark on the Chiefs defensive line.

Reed, a second-round choice in 2016, has appeared in 72 games in five seasons, starting 63.

He served a six-game suspension in 2019 for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, and he finished that season with two sacks and 27 tackles. In 2020, Reed made 6.5 sacks, 38 tackles, five tackles for loss and 14 quarterback hits in starting all 16 games.

Reed, 28, has 19 sacks the past three seasons.

Ty Dane Gonzalez of SI.com on why Reed was available:

Reed was the subject of trade talks leading up to his release, but the Seahawks were unable to find a partner. In need of salary cap relief, Seattle freed up nearly $9 million in spending money by cutting the former second-round pick outright. He was in the second and final year of a two-year, $23 million contract that will still cost the team $5 million in dead cap this season.

AFC NORTH

BALTIMORE

After several false starts in signing a receiver, the Ravens line up WR SAMMY WATKINS on a one-year deal.  Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com:

Sammy Watkins agreed to a one-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens, the team announced.

The team said the contract is pending a physical.

Terms were not disclosed but sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter the deal is worth $6 million with $5 million guaranteed.

Watkins tweeted Saturday that he “cannot wait to get started” with the Ravens.

The addition of Watkins ended the Ravens’ difficult pursuit of an experienced wide receiver for quarterback Lamar Jackson and helps boost the NFL’s 32nd-ranked passing attack. Watkins’ 4,665 career receiving yards are more than double the combined career total of the Ravens’ current wide receivers (2,032).

If he can stay healthy, Watkins can team with Marquise “Hollywood” Brown as Baltimore’s starting wide receivers and complement him as a valuable underneath target for Jackson.

It has been a trying offseason for the Ravens to land a veteran wide receiver for Jackson, which further raises questions of whether wide receivers want to play in Baltimore’s run-first offense. Desperately needing a wide receiver in a dwindling free-agent pool, the Ravens watched JuJu Smith-Schuster turn down a better offer to return to Pittsburgh last week and then lost out on T.Y. Hilton, who chose to go back to Indianapolis on Wednesday.

Baltimore eventually went with Watkins, who had met with Ravens officials on Tuesday before leaving for a visit with the Colts. When Indianapolis retained Hilton, the Ravens struck a deal with Watkins.

By joining Baltimore, Watkins reunites with Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman and passing-game specialist Keith Williams. In Roman’s only full season as the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator, Watkins produced career highs with 1,047 yards receiving and nine touchdowns in 2015. Before being hired by the Ravens this year, Williams recently served as Watkins’ personal receivers coach in the offseason.

This marks the first time Baltimore has signed a wide receiver this early in free agency since the Ravens added Michael Crabtree in 2018. The most significant free-agent wide receiver signings by the Ravens in the past two years were Seth Roberts and Dez Bryant.

One of the bigger surprises of the Ravens’ offseason was Baltimore not signing a wide receiver immediately when it was among the team’s top needs. The Ravens’ wide receivers have ranked last in each of the past two seasons in catches and receiving yards, and this group ranked among the youngest in the league because their two most experienced targets (Bryant and Willie Snead IV) are free agents. Before bringing in Watkins, the Ravens’ top four wide receivers on their roster — Brown, Miles Boykin, Devin Duvernay and James Proche II — were all drafted in the past two years, and none are over the age of 24.

The signing of Watkins won’t preclude the Ravens from drafting a wide receiver, but it should decrease the necessity to select one in the first round.

Watkins is only the Ravens’ second free agent signed from another team this offseason. Earlier this month, Baltimore signed guard Kevin Zeitler to a three-year, $22.5 million contract.

AFC SOUTH

JACKSONVILLE

Peter King gets everything but a total commitment to QB TREVOR LAWRENCE from Jaguars coach Urban Meyer:

There’s been little mystery about the first domino to fall on April 29, but let’s make it officially official.

“Is there any real mystery that you’re picking Trevor Lawrence?” I asked Jacksonville coach Urban Meyer the other day.

“Uh,” Meyer said, not flinching, “I’d have to say that’s the direction we’re going. I’ll leave that up to the owner when we make that decision official. But I’m certainly not stepping out of line that that’s certainly the direction we’re headed.”

I loved it. Why hide what you’re doing, just for fake NFL drama? Meyer’s been laser-focused on Lawrence since, as a FOX college football analyst, meeting him during college football playoff prep. Meyer’s extremely close to Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, and has a pipeline to all things Lawrence, on and off the field. Fair to say he couldn’t be more comfortable with his first pick as an NFL head coach.

“Trevor checks all the boxes, you know?” Meyer told me. “The number one common quality of every great player, not just quarterback, is competitive maniac. He’s 34-2. Won a national title as a true freshman. Is a winner. I’ve seen him up close and in person compete. And then character. I see him and I witness with my players, when the guys get drafted high, a lot of people get . . . They have influences in their live. Like, whether it be social media, whether it be other things that really don’t pertain to winning. What I’m really pleased with and I don’t want to say surprised, but him, his agent, his family, they’re focused on one thing. He wants to become the best version of himself for the National Football League, which is, well, it is somewhat refreshing.”

– – –

Standing uncomfortably close to Trevor Lawrence during his Pro Day. I don’t know—that was curious to me, and got some attention a couple of weeks ago at Lawrence’s Clemson workout.

“I was as close as I could be,” Meyer said. “I’m that way at practice, though. I like to be near a quarterback. I like to hear him talk. I like to hear a ball come out of his hand. I like to hear—”

“Do you really hear [a difference]?” I wondered. “You can really tell something by hearing the ball come out of a quarterback’s hand?”

“Oh, absolutely,” he said. “Absolutely. The violence, the snap that the ball comes out with, the grunt or the effort. Some guys throw a ball effortless and some people have to really rear back and throw it. Absolutely. Someday, Peter, I’ll have you stand there and let you listen. I’ll have an average guy throw one and then I’ll have him throw it. You tell me if you can hear the difference.”

And more from King with Meyer on Meyer:

“Not much has surprised me other than the fact you just don’t get to be around your players as much,” Meyer told me from his office at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville. You’ll be able to hear and see my conversation with Meyer, and on NBC Sports’ YouTube page, when The Peter King Podcast posts by 6 p.m. ET today.

“In college, you got 75 guys rolling through your facility every day. One of my favorite things to do is go down to the weight room and hang out with the players while they’re lifting weights. There’s about 20 guys rolling around here [now in the Jags’ weight room]. Nothing’s mandatory. I think a lot of people coach for a lot of reasons. Mine is relationship with players and it’s hard . . . I talk to them on the phone quite a bit. I have not had one team meeting. Think about that. I’ve been the head coach since January and we have not had a team meeting because we’re not allowed. So that’s the biggest adjustment.”

My biggest question about Meyer is staying power. He is 56 years old. He resigned from Florida in 2009 at 45 for health reasons (chest pains, severe headaches due to a brain cyst), then said it was a leave of absence, then returned to the job the following spring. He announced his retirement after the 2010 season, then returned to coach at Ohio State 11 months later. He retired at the end of the 2018 season, again citing health reasons. Then he started to get the itch again in January 2020.

“I gave a lot of thought to [his health issues],” Meyer said. “Obviously, this was not a knee-jerk reaction. This is something that I’ve been studying for at least 12 months, starting back in January. Studying the roster, studying the lifestyle, studying everything about it. I’ve done my due diligence on it. But I’m committed to Jacksonville. I told that to our owner.

“Florida was stress-related. At Ohio State, I went seven years and I kind of knew down the road, I was getting near the end. Plus I found the right guy. Ohio State’s very personal to me. When I found the right coach in Ryan Day, and he almost left the year before to become a head coach, I went to our president and I went to our AD. I said I found the right guy. All the assistant coaches, all the strength staff, the training staff, the infrastructure stays in place and the organization just continues to thrive. That’s everybody’s dream. That’s what happened at Ohio State. At Ohio State, I didn’t have stress-related issues. I had some health-related issues—the Arachnoid [brain] cyst issue I had dealt with. I had surgery in ’14 and some stuff. I worked through that pretty well.”

AFC EAST

MIAMI

Peter King on what the Dolphins did on Friday:

I like Miami’s first trade, a lot. I believe I understand the second trade. The Miami owner, Stephen Ross, made it job one to get a long-term star quarterback when he took over the team in 2009. That was his mantra for years, and in 2012, he hoped that man would be Ryan Tannehill, picked eighth overall. It didn’t work out. So Miami kept scotch-taping the QB situation until 2020, when it entered the draft with the fifth, 18th and 26th picks in the first round. Miami would have loved to send a package to Cincinnati so the Dolphins could have picked Joe Burrow. The Bengals had no interest. So it came down to Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert at number five, and Miami picked Tua. Looks like the wrong pick now, of course, but there’s time for a course-correction.

At first blush, the second trade seems counter-productive. After the first trade, Miami had two first-round picks in each of the next three drafts. With four top picks in ’22 and ’23, GM Chris Grier would have been in prime position—if Tagovailoa flames out this year—to make a big play for a first-round quarterback next year. But now Grier will likely have only San Francisco’s first-rounder next year, likely to come in the second half of the round, to barter with if the Dolphins again feel a need for a first-round passer.

Regarding the logic of the second trade: It has to come down to one thing. Miami had to have wanted certainty that it could nab one of the four great pass-catchers in this draft—tight end Kyle Pitts or wideouts J’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle or DeVonta Smith. That’s possible at 12. That’s certain at six. And knowing how smart a personnel guy Chris Grier is, it would not surprise me now, knowing he was in position to get a great receiver, if he tried to move one of his wideouts—maybe even DeVante Parker (just 12.6 yards per catch last year, and now 28)—if the compensation was right.

There’s a new breed of NFL general manager, and he’s not afraid to make big trades. This is the sixth draft run by Grier. He has already been involved in deals for eight first-round draft picks. Grier also dealt away a first-round safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick, making it, really, nine first-round-involved trades since 2016. He made two of them Friday. I love GMs who believe the draft is a vehicle to get better in all ways and don’t treat first-round picks like untouchables. When I first started covering football in the eighties, GMs were almost irrationally tied to their first-round picks. No more. The free-wheeling Jimmy Johnson started to change that in Dallas, figuring he could always find a draft choice if he really needed one. Now, from Seattle’s John Schneider in the Pacific Northwest, to Grier down in south Florida, from John Lynch and Les Snead out West to Howie Roseman back East, it’s a trader’s game.

Bill Barnwell on Miami’s maneuvering:

Let’s start with the Dolphins, who were the primary drivers of today’s action. Their decision to trade down tells us a few things about their plans for the future and how they view this draft …

1. Tua Tagovailoa is their long-term solution at quarterback. If the Dolphins had any doubts about him as their quarterback of the future, the time to address those concerns would have been now. They’re unlikely to pick as high as third overall in the years to come and won’t have any more high picks coming back from the Texans. Miami could have followed in the footsteps of the Jimmy Johnson-era Cowboys by taking a quarterback near the top of the draft in back-to-back years, but that sort of deal seems very unlikely after these trades.

2. The Dolphins are thinking intelligently about the big picture in terms of helping Tagovailoa.Once a quarterback was out of the picture, it seemed likely that the Dolphins were going to add a key weapon to help their quarterback with the No. 3 pick. With the Jags and Jets expected to draft quarterbacks in the top two, it seemed like the Dolphins would be choosing between offensive tackle Penei Sewell, wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and DeVonta Smith and tight end Kyle Pitts.

Well, having moved down from three to six, the Dolphins are … still going to be picking one of those guys! With the 49ers (almost) unquestionably moving up to draft a quarterback, the Dolphins can only miss out on a maximum of two of the guys from that list. Sewell is likely to go to either the Falcons at No. 4 or the Bengals at No. 5, and as I’ll get to later, there’s a decent chance the Falcons don’t take any of the players on this list (or trade down to a team that wants a quarterback).

So, if the Dolphins want to add a receiver and don’t have a clear preference between Chase, Smith, and Pitts, they were able to move down and still ensure that they’ll get a key weapon for Tagovailoa. Really, unless the Dolphins desperately wanted Sewell, they’re not missing out on all that much by moving down three spots. They might miss out on having their first choice between Chase, Sewell and Pitts, but history tells us that the league is often overconfident in its ability to pick the best player (or players) at a given position in the draft.

As a simple example, take the two positions the Dolphins were targeting and what happened with them in the 2020 draft. The Giants were the first team to take a tackle and chose Andrew Thomas with the No. 4 pick. The next three tackles off the board were Jedrick Wills Jr. to the Browns (at No. 10), Mekhi Becton to the Jets (11), and Tristan Wirfs to the Bucs (13). Each of those three tackles had significantly better seasons than Thomas. Wills is a left tackle and Wirfs is a right tackle, and it’s only been one year, but the Giants don’t appear to have gained any sort of significant advantage by being the first to pick.

At wide receiver, the first picks off the board were Alabama products Henry Ruggs and Jerry Jeudy. Justin Jefferson, the fifth wideout off the board (22), is the one who had a historically great season. In the 2017 wideout class that just became eligible for free agency, Corey Davis, Mike Williams, and John Ross were drafted in the top 10, but midround picks JuJu Smith-Schuster, Cooper Kupp, Chris Godwin and Kenny Golladay have been better at the next level. The Dolphins have had a meaningful analytics department for the past couple of years, and they’re playing the percentages here.

3. The Tunsil trade is quickly approaching all-timer status. The Dolphins got two first-round picks and a second-rounder for sending Tunsil to the Texans, who thought the young left tackle was the last piece they needed to compete for a Super Bowl. Houston won a wild-card game over the Bills in overtime before collapsing. For the second time in a row after the Deshaun Watson trade, the Texans sent two first-rounders to a team for a player and had the later of those first-rounders fall in the top five.

As Field Yates noted on Twitter, the Dolphins have now turned that Tunsil trade into four first-round picks and a second-round selection. Miami had to package its own first-rounder in the Eagles deal to move back up to No. 6, but even if it had just stayed put at No. 12, the only player in the league who would have attracted this sort of trade haul in a one-for-one deal is Patrick Mahomes. Remember that the Dolphins likely only got Tunsil because of his dramatic draft-day fall as a result of a Twitter hacking; that bizarre fall has been a transformative victory for the Miami organization.

Of course, the Dolphins still have to nail the picks, and they used the first of those selections last year on corner Noah Igbinoghene, who didn’t do much in his first season. Even if the San Francisco picks in 2022 and 2023 fall in the 20s, though, this would be a huge victory for the Dolphins. And as we’ve seen with the Texans, there’s no guarantee of where the chips will fall.

NEW YORK JETS

What could the Jets get from a team like Carolina if they decided to hang onto QB SAM DARNOLD?  Peter King wonders:

First: I hear Joe Douglas is standing firm and is not interested in trading the second pick. But I believe there could be one team left that is interested in moving up, even at a ridiculous cost. That is Carolina, picking eighth in the first round. The Jets have the second pick, and odds are good that they stay right there and pick BYU quarterback Zach Wilson. So the table has been set now. For someone to move up to get the second pick, even from six picks down, it would cost first-round picks this year plus in 2022 and 2023. Would Carolina be willing to do that? I bet the Panthers, who seem lukewarm on incumbent Teddy Bridgewater and who have an ultra-aggressive owner in David Tepper, would think hard about it. Such a trade with the Panthers would leave the Jets inebriated on first-round draft choices: two this year, three in 2022, two in 2023. I don’t see Douglas doing it, but he just might be tempted.

THIS AND THAT

FIRST ROUND QUARTERBACKS

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com did some research on first round QBs (and we are going to go one better by arbitrarily bold-facing what we deem to be “good” picks):

With quarterbacks once again the focal point of the upcoming draft, especially in the first round, I got curious about the history of drafting first-round quarterbacks.

So I did the research, for a change. And I drew a line at 1966, the launch of the Super Bowl era.

The team-by-team list appears below, including the regular draft and the supplemental draft. The most first-round quarterbacks have been drafted by the Browns, with seven. The fewest is two — shared by the Cowboys, Panthers, Rams, Saints, Seahawks, and Texans.

The Cowboys and the Saints each used a first-round pick on a quarterback in a supplemental draft. Dallas and New Orleans, then, have only ever used a first-round quarterback in the regular draft once each. The Cowboys took Troy Aikman in 1989, and the Saints took Archie Manning in 1971.

Both of the Cowboys’ first-round quarterbacks were drafted the same year. Only a couple of months after making Aikman the first overall pick in the 1989 draft, the Cowboys used a first-round supplemental pick on Steve Walsh.

Here’s the list of all first-round quarterbacks selected by each and every team. Enjoy the rabbit hole.

Bears (five): Mitchell Trubisky (2017); Rex Grossman (2003); Cade McNown (1999); Jim Harbaugh (1987); Jim McMahon (1982).

Bengals (six): Joe Burrow (2020); Carson Palmer (2003); Akili Smith (1999); David Klinger (1992); Jack Thompson (1979); Greg Cook (1969).

Bills (four): Josh Allen (2018); EJ Manuel (2013); J.P. Losman (2004); Jim Kelly (1983).

Broncos (four): Paxton Lynch (2016); Tim Tebow (2010); Jay Cutler (2006); Tommy Maddox (1992).

Browns (seven): Baker Mayfield (2018); Johnny Manziel (2014); Brandon Weeden (2012); Brady Quinn (2007); Tim Couch (1999); Bernie Kosar (1985 supplemental); Mike Phipps (1970).

Buccaneers (five): Jameis Winston (2015); Josh Freeman (2009); Trent Dilfer (1994); Vinny Testaverde (1987); Doug Williams (1978).

Colts (six): Andrew Luck (2012); Peyton Manning (1998); Jeff George (1990); John Elway (1983); Art Schlicter (1982); Bert Jones (1973).

Cardinals (six): Kyler Murray (2019); Josh Rosen (2018); Matt Leinart (2006); Timm Rosenbach (1989 supplemental); Kelly Stouffer (1987); Steve Pisarkiewicz (1977).

Chargers (four): Justin Herbert (2020); Eli Manning (2004); Ryan Leaf (1998); Marty Domres (1969).

Chiefs (three): Patrick Mahomes (2017); Todd Blackledge (1983); Steve Fuller (1979).

Cowboys (two): Troy Aikman (1989); Steve Walsh (1989 supplemental).

Dolphins (five): Tua Tagovailoa (2020); Ryan Tannehill (2012); Dan Marino (1983); Bob Griese (1967); Rick Norton (1966).

Eagles (three): Carson Wentz (2016); Donovan McNabb (1999); John Reaves (1972);

Falcons (five): Matt Ryan (2008); Michael Vick (2001); Chris Miller (1987); Steve Bartowski (1975);Randy Johnson (1966).

49ers (three): Alex Smith (2005); Jim Druckenmiller (1997); Steve Spurrier (1967).

Giants (four): Daniel Jones (2019); Philip Rivers (2004); Dave Brown (1992 supplemental); Phil Simms (1979).

Jaguars (three): Blake Bortles (2013); Blaine Gabbert (2011); Byron Leftwich (2003).

Jets (five): Sam Darnold (2018); Mark Sanchez (2009); Chad Pennington (2000); Ken O’Brien (1983); Richard Todd (1976).

Lions (five): Matthew Stafford (2009); Joey Harrington (2002); Andre Ware (1990); Chuck Long (1986); Greg Landry (1968).

Packers (five): Jordan Love (2020); Aaron Rodgers (2005); Rich Campbell (1981); Jerry Tagge (1972); Don Horn (1967).

Panthers (two): Cam Newton (2011); Kerry Collins (1995).

Patriots (three): Drew Bledsoe (1993); Tony Eason (1983); Jim Plunkett (1971).

Raiders (three): JaMarcus Russell (2007); Todd Marinovich (1991); Marc Wilson (1980).

Rams (two): Jared Goff (2016); Sam Bradford (2010).

Ravens (three): Lamar Jackson (2018); Joe Flacco (2008); Kyle Boller (2003).

Saints (two): Dave Wilson (1981 supplemental); Archie Manning (1971).

Seahawks (two): Rick Mirer (1993); Dan McGwire (1991).

Steelers (three): Ben Roethlisberger (2004); Mark Malone (1980); Terry Bradshaw (1970).

Texans (two): Deshaun Watson (2017); David Carr (2002).

Titans (six): Marcus Mariota (2015); Jake Locker (2011); Vince Young (2006); Steve McNair (1995); Jim Everett (1986); Dan Pastorini (1971).

Vikings (four): Teddy Bridgewater (2014); Christian Ponder (2011); Daunte Culpepper (1999); Tommy Kramer (1977).

Washington (five): Dwayne Haskins (2019); Robert Griffin III (2012); Jason Campbell (2005); Patrick Ramsey (2002); Heath Shuler (1994).

Boy, who to boldface was arbitrary.  Some like Rivers, Eli, Elway, Testaverde and Alex Smith weren’t good for the team that drafted them.

And Wentz and Goff don’t look good now, but they both had tremendous seasons. Was Chad Pennington a good pick?  We passed on Cutler the first time through, then boldfaced him after some thought.  Same with Doug Williams.

BROADCAST NEWS

Peter King talks with Dick Stockton about his 45 years doing NFL football:

He started doing NFL games for NBC in 1976. “After the World Series in Boston,” Stockton said, “they said to me, ‘Why don’t you start doing some football for us?’ “ Two years, maybe 15 games. His color men: Paul Maguire, Len Dawson, Floyd Little.

CBS, 1978 to 1993. Roger Staubach was an early first partner. “Good story. We did a game in Atlanta, and between talking to the home and visiting team on Saturday, we had some time and stopped into a McDonald’s to get some food. The only seats were in the kids’ section. So there’s Roger Staubach—decorated Naval hero, Heisman winner, Super Bowl champ—sitting there, his knees up to his eyes. He said, ‘I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be doing this.’ What I liked about Roger: He talked when he had something to say, not just to talk.”

Stockton’s CBS color men: Staubach, Johnny Unitas (“Great quote from a Lions game we were doing—Johnny said we’re in ‘Detroit City’—and I never heard that before”), Lenny Moore, Tom Brookshier, Dan Dierdorf, Terry Bradshaw, Jim Hill, Hank Stram, Dan Fouts, Wayne Walker, Merlin Olsen, Randy Cross, John Madden. “Not sure of this,” Stockton said, “but I think I might have had Madden the last game he took a flight. I think he flew Tampa to Houston after the game, got off in Houston and never got on a plane again.”

FOX, 1994 to 2020. “Going to FOX, we were kind of unleashed, free, not really following a format the way typical NFL games were done,” Stockton said. “FOX wanted to be different.” His FOX colormen: Matt Millen, Daryl Johnston, Troy Aikman, Chris Spielman, John Lynch, Ronde Barber, Brian Billick, Jim Mora Jr., Brian Baldinger, Donovan McNabb, Kirk Morrison, Charles Davis, Mark Schlereth, Brady Quinn, David Diehl, Jonathan Vilma, Greg Jennings.

Stockton also did nine teams’ preseason games. Worked with John Riggins and Joe Theismann doing the Washington exhibitions, and new owner Daniel Snyder decided he wanted to go with an all-local crew. So Stockton, unbowed, went a few miles up I-95, and he and Daryl Johnston started to do the Ravens summer games. “I see Snyder at the Super Bowl,” Stockton said, “and he said, ‘I see you’re doing the Ravens games. You should be doing our games!’ I said, ‘Well, you fired us.’ “

Years in NFL booths: 45. Football colormen in regular- and post-season: 33.

I gave him a chance to pick his greatest moments in all sports, and to tell stories about Magic and Larry and Johnny Bench and the football greats, or maybe how he used to exchange cigars with Michael Jordan before games early in Jordan’s ascending career. This is what Stockton said:

“I never really counted the games, never figured out how many big games I did, never said, ‘Look what I’ve done.’ It’s the way I’m wired. I never worked a day in my life. My thoughts, even courtside for a Lakers-Celtics championship series, or a World Series, or NFL playoff game, have always been: There’s a guy out there. He just toiled 9 to 5 Monday to Friday, probably at a job he didn’t particularly love, and now he was going to relax with a beer and a pizza and watch a game on TV. Could I enhance the game, even a little? Could I make the game a little more enjoyable for him? If so, then I’ve done my job.”

Trivia question: Who drove John Madden from Tampa Stadium to Tampa International Airport for his final flight in November of 1979?

– – –

Richard Dietsch tells King that the Sunday Ticket package is going to streaming:

I asked Deitsch if he thought the Sunday Ticket package would be streamed in the next TV deal.

Deitsch said: “I would predict it will. Again, having talked to a number of the executives who would be negotiating with the NFL . . . They all sort of, with the exception of NBC, seemed to indicate, ‘We’ll take a realistic look at this. And we’re interested in talking to the NFL.’ And certainly it came off to me that Amazon and ESPN would absolutely take a real look at it. For ESPN, that feels like a game-changer, if Sunday Ticket’s on ESPN+. That feels like rocket fuel for that streaming service. I know Disney+ has amazing numbers and ESPN+ has great growth since it started.

“And then we get back to Amazon. Again, the numbers that Sunday Ticket has cost in the past are nothing for Amazon. Not saying it’s a rounding error, but it’s not much more. So if I had to handicap it, I think one of those two places will get it. I don’t think there’s any chance in the world DirecTV’s gonna have it again. Streaming becomes like the place where you can get every NFL game and I think that would have really big implications as we head down the road. The only thing I don’t know, because obviously I don’t have access to Disney and ESPN’s books is, how would they feel about after paying $2.7 million for the traditional NFL rights that they have, throw in another $2 billion for Sunday Ticket. Like, do they have the kind of resources where they are willing to invest nearly $5 billion in football? I don’t know the answer to that question. I think Amazon wouldn’t blink if that’s what they want.”

And then every game would be on your tablet?

2021 DRAFT

Chad Reuter of NFL.com pumps out a Mock after Friday’s big day.  He thinks North Dakota State QB TREY LANCE is the object of 49ers affection.

Friday featured a MAJOR shakeup to the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, with the 49ers moving from No. 12 to No. 3 in a deal with the Dolphins. Miami then turned around and immediately jumped from No. 12 up to No. 6 in an ensuing trade with Philadelphia. Is your head spinning yet? I’m here to help!

Actually, I don’t see the Niners being the last team to move up for a signal-caller — not when there’s a fifth QB shooting up draft boards. And before we get to the picks, I want to quickly explore that emerging storyline …

The X-factor in Round 1 is Alabama quarterback Mac Jones.

I’ve seen former NFL executives say Jones’ draft-position floor is No. 8 overall, as Carolina worked well with the ‘Bama product at the Reese’s Senior Bowl. I’ve also seen projections of Jones going to the Patriots in the mid-first and the Saints/Buccaneers late in Round 1.

It’s truly unknown at this point how high he will be selected.

In this mock, I project Chicago moving up from the 20th spot to No. 11, snatching Jones from underneath other teams looking for a young starter. The organization that picked up Andy Dalton as a bridge quarterback and previously acquired Mike Glennon and Nick Foles will not be dissuaded from looking at Jones despite his average athleticism.

That average athleticism actually surprised some at the Heisman Trophy finalist’s pro day on Tuesday. His measurements and test results came in very similar to the numbers Raiders starter Derek Carr posted when he came into the league out of Fresno State — and Carr has no issues operating an NFL offense. Jones’ 32-inch vertical exceeded expectations, and his other tests showed he is at least a passable athlete for the position. He threw well, displaying a tight, accurate ball to all levels of the field. Jones playfully interacted with his teammates, but was still business-like in his approach. There’s a lot to like about the 22-year-old’s intelligence, attitude and work ethic.

Jones is clearly not a quick-twitch athlete in the pocket, even though he can move around to find space to operate. His ability to efficiently operate an NFL offense and deliver well-placed throws on time, however, portend a long NFL career. Though some scouts will consider Jones “maxed out” — as they do many Alabama prospects because of the excellent coaching they receive in Tuscaloosa — he has areas of his game on which he can improve. His arm strength will grow as he works in an NFL strength and conditioning program, as will his overall physique so he can be strong working through traffic in the pocket. Jones will also continue to work on his foot quickness within the pocket to quickly shift his frame and find passing lanes.

Until I hear something more concrete, I’ll roll with Jones to go in the top 15 selections. Finding a quarterback with his intangibles and productivity should not be taken for granted by teams needing a young player at the position — especially given the team-building benefit of having a solid starter in place during his affordable rookie contract.

1 – Jacksonville Jaguars

Trevor Lawrence

Clemson · QB · Junior

There’s really not much to say about this pick, as Lawrence has been the presumptive top choice since he led Clemson to a national title two-plus years ago. New Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer took the job, at least in part, because he had access to this pick. Now the rest of the team must support Lawrence’s great talents.

2 – New York Jets

Zach Wilson

BYU · QB · Junior

It’s still unclear whether the Jets will keep Sam Darnold or trade him to another franchise in need of a young starting quarterback. Wilson’s accuracy, mobility and confidence will likely entice Jets general manager Joe Douglas (who didn’t pick Darnold) and coach Robert Saleh to select the BYU product at No. 2 and deal Darnold so he can start over in a new city.

3 – San Francisco 49ers

Trey Lance

North Dakota State · QB · Sophomore (RS)

The 49ers pulled off a major trade with the Dolphins on Friday, moving up nine slots to presumably land their quarterback of the future. We’re not sure which quarterback they love enough to give up two future first-round picks and a third-rounder, but for now, I’ll run with Lance. His athleticism and arm strength could be an excellent fit in Kyle Shanahan’s offense.

4 – Atlanta Falcons

Kyle Pitts

Florida · TE · Junior

The Falcons might be in the quarterback market. However, if they’re waiting to find a replacement for Matt Ryan until at least next year, then picking the top pass catcher in the draft makes sense. Pitts is a unicorn who will create mismatches inside and outside for the Falcons.

5 – Cincinnati Bengals

Penei Sewell

Oregon · OT · Junior

Veteran Riley Reiff was brought in to replace waived right tackle Bobby Hart. If Sewell is available, it wouldn’t be surprising for the team to move Reiff or former first-rounder Jonah Williams inside to put their best five linemen on the field. Joe Burrow’s injury in the pocket last year simply confirmed the team’s need to improve the line.

6 – Miami Dolphins

Ja’Marr Chase

LSU · WR · Junior

The Dolphins really shook up the league Friday by immediately following up the 49ers trade with another deal with the Eagles, getting Miami back in the top six. At that slot, the Fins land the draft’s best wideout. Chase will make plays inside and outside, helping the development of second-year starter Tua Tagovailoa.

7 – Detroit Lions

Micah Parsons

Penn State · LB · Junior

Parsons should be Dan Campbell’s type of player: aggressive, fast and tough, whether chasing down quarterbacks in the pocket or ball-carriers trying to get to the sideline.

8 – Carolina Panthers

Justin Fields

Ohio State · QB · Junior

The Panthers get a new quarterback without having to make a move. Fields will be an excellent NFL starter because of his toughness and athleticism — and he can step in right away if needed.

9 – Denver Broncos

Rashawn Slater

Northwestern · OT · Senior

The Broncos brought in veteran cornerbacks Ronald Darby and Kyle Fuller as free agents, so they use this selection to solidify their offensive line. Slater’s pro-day athleticism test results were similar to those of eight-time Pro Bowler Trent Williams. Slater could easily play right tackle for the Broncos to go with Garett Bolles on the left side. That said, GM George Paton made it clear he’s not ruling out bringing in another quarterback to compete with Drew Lock, so it won’t be a shock if they’re in the mix to move up and nab a signal-caller.

10 – Dallas Cowboys

Patrick Surtain II

Alabama · CB · Junior

Team need and player value merge at the 10th overall pick, with the Cowboys getting the kind of physical outside corner they could have had in Jalen Ramsey a few years ago. Surtain is a technician who plays the ball as well as any corner I’ve seen over the past 20 years.

11 – Chicago Bears (mock trade with Giants)

Mac Jones

Alabama · QB · Junior (RS)

GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy bring in Jones to learn behind consummate pro Andy Dalton in 2021. Jones’ athleticism is average, though he performed better than expected at his pro day. His pocket feel and accuracy are something the Bears lacked the past few seasons. They give up a third-round pick this year and a 2022 first to make this deal, which represents the last chance for Pace and Nagy to jump-start Chicago’s fortunes.

12 – Philadelphia Eagles

Jaycee Horn

South Carolina · CB · Junior

The Eagles could pick one of the Alabama receivers here but Horn’s outstanding pro day and game tape may force their hand. Philly needs his size, speed and tenacious attitude on the outside in a bad way.

13 – Los Angeles Chargers

DeVonta Smith

Alabama · WR · Senior

Smith might weigh 170 pounds, but he will be a dangerous playmaker at the next level. Justin Herbert would love to have the Heisman Trophy winner working in the slot with Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Smith owns the foot quickness and tenacity to win off the line versus press coverage, so he could play outside as a rookie — and eventually take over for Williams, who is a free agent after the 2021 season.

14 – Minnesota Vikings

Alijah Vera-Tucker

USC · OL · Junior (RS)

The Vikings released starting left tackle Riley Reiff before free agency began, so finding a new blind-side blocker for Kirk Cousins appears to be on the draft menu. Vera-Tucker’s arm length (32 1/8 inches) might force teams to rate him as a guard, but Indianapolis right tackle Braden Smith has showed arm length isn’t everything — he measured 32 1/4 inches at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine, and he has since established himself as a successful member of one of the NFL’s top O-lines. Even if Vera-Tucker has to slide inside eventually, the Vikings could really use help there. If the Vikings find value in another tackle later in the draft (as I project in Round 4 of this exercise), they could push Vera-Tucker inside right away and play the team’s best five linemen.

15 – New England Patriots

Jaylen Waddle

Alabama · WR · Junior

N’Keal Harry and Julian Edelman may be traded or released before long — so adding a true slot and return specialist like Waddle makes a lot of sense for the Patriots, even after the free-agent additions of Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor.

16 – Arizona Cardinals

Caleb Farley

Virginia Tech · CB · Junior (RS)

Patrick Peterson’s departure for Minnesota via free agency leaves a hole in Arizona’s secondary. Farley’s back surgery — combined with Horn’s pro day — might cost the former Hokie a few draft slots, but his size, agility and ball skills on the outside should allow him to be a quality NFL starter. The signing of Tennessee cap casualty Malcolm Butler to a one-year deal will not prevent the Cardinals from taking advantage of Farley’s value at the 16th pick.

17 – Las Vegas Raiders

Christian Darrisaw

Virginia Tech · OT · Junior

Trading Trent Brown to the Patriots created a big hole at the right tackle spot. Darrisaw has the strength and athleticism to play either side of the line, even though he stuck on the blindside during his career at Virginia Tech.

18 – Miami Dolphins

Kwity Paye

Michigan · Edge · Senior

Miami has its pick of edge defenders with its scheduled first-rounder. Paye played with his hand down at Michigan, but has the speed and agility to play as a stand-up defender. He should make the adjustment quickly and force quarterbacks into hiding during his rookie campaign.

19 – Washington

Zaven Collins

Tulsa · LB · Junior (RS)

Collins presents excellent physical attributes for stopping run plays between the tackles, blitzing off the edge and making plays in coverage. Washington has one of the top defensive lines in the NFL, which will keep Collins clean so he can maximize his talents early on.

20 – New York Giants (mock trade with Chicago)

Azeez Ojulari

Georgia · Edge · Sophomore (RS)

The Giants get a couple of premium picks from this trade with the Bears and still select a much-needed pass rusher who best fits their scheme. Ojulari’s a good athlete and plays bigger than his 6-foot-3, 240-pound frame portends against the run. He could remind Giants coaches of Markus Golden, who had 10 sacks for the G-Men in 2019.

21 – Green Bay Packers (mock trade with Indianapolis)

Greg Newsome II

Northwestern · CB · Junior

The Packers have been aggressive finding talent in the first round recently, trading up in two of the last three drafts. They move again to grab this Wildcat, giving up both of their fourth-round picks as they did in 2019 to select safety Darnell Savage. Newsome showed out at his pro day in early March, where Green Bay GM Brian Gutekunst was in attendance. Re-signing Kevin King to a one-year deal should not affect the team’s interest in the young corner, who can play inside or on the perimeter, allowing Jaire Alexander to line up against the league’s top slot receivers when needed.

22 – Tennessee Titans

Rashod Bateman

Minnesota · WR · Junior

Tennessee signed Josh Reynolds as a free agent to help replace departed free agent Corey Davis, but the Titans still need another pass catcher. Bateman can play in the slot to replace the released Adam Humphries, with Reynolds and A.J. Brown on the outside. He’s also capable of lining up outside, using his speed and body control to win down the seam or along the sideline.

23 – New York Jets

Creed Humphrey

Oklahoma · C · Junior (RS)

Humphrey is an athletic leader on the offensive line who may remind Jets fans of former Pro Bowl pivot Nick Mangold. Shifting 2020 free-agent signee Connor McGovern to guard would improve two spots on the line in front of whichever quarterback the Jets roll with in 2021 and beyond.

24 – Pittsburgh Steelers

Najee Harris

Alabama · RB· Senior

The Steelers haven’t selected a running back in the first round since Rashard Mendenhall in 2008. GM Kevin Colbert isn’t afraid to break historical trends, however; after years of staying put in the first round, he made a large trade up for linebacker Devin Bush two years ago. Harris compares well to Le’Veon Bell as a big-bodied dual-threat back worthy of this selection, joining former teammate Josh Jacobs as No. 24 overall selections.

25 – Kansas City Chiefs (mock trade with Jacksonville)

Teven Jenkins

Oklahoma State · OT · Senior (RS)

Andy Reid was apparently so affected by what happened during the Super Bowl that he wanted to start over at tackle, releasing veterans Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher, whose absence due to injury hamstrung Patrick Mahomes and the offense. Reid also saw first-hand how the Buccaneers benefitted from trading up in last year’s draft to grab rookie starter Tristan Wirfs. Getting a tackle is of paramount importance for the team to return to the title game, whether it’s Jenkins (who has played left and right tackle) or someone else.

26 – Cleveland Browns

Jamin Davis

Kentucky · LB · Junior (RS)

Cleveland has a solid all-around roster because of previous administrations’ ability to grab extra picks and the current leadership’s ability to maximize those selections. Davis brings an athleticism to the Browns’ linebacker corps that it has lacked. He could be a Fred Warner-type defender in the middle.

27 – Baltimore Ravens

Jaelan Phillips

Miami · Edge · Junior (RS)

The Ravens will look at edge rushers of value here despite re-signing Tyus Bowser and Pernell McPhee to go with 2019 pick Jaylon Ferguson, as they lost Matt Judon and Yannick Ngakoue to free agency. Phillips possesses the length, strength and short-area quickness to be an excellent stand-up rusher — as well as an asset for Baltimore’s run defense.

28 – New Orleans Saints

Eric Stokes

Georgia · CB · Junior

The Saints are a bit thin at cornerback right now and former first-round picks Marshon Lattimore and Patrick Robinson are both free agents after the season. Stokes is a fantastic athlete with good ball skills who could be a Tre’Davious White-type bargain near the end of the first round.

29 – Indianapolis Colts (mock trade with Green Bay)

Samuel Cosmi

Texas · OT · Junior (RS)

Anthony Castonzo’s retirement was expected, so the Colts have probably been watching left tackles with great interest since the fall. Cosmi has grown into a strong lineman, in addition to being the athlete we’ve all seen on the field since his redshirt freshman season in Austin.

30 – Atlanta Falcons (mock trade with Buffalo)

Jayson Oweh

Penn State · Edge · Sophomore (RS)

Atlanta trades into the first round to grab an edge rusher to replace Takk McKinley. The elite size/athleticism combo that Oweh displayed at his pro day might force teams to pick him in the first round despite the fact he had zero sacks this past season (he did have five in 2019, however). The Bills are in a prime position to trade out of Thursday night’s proceedings because of their solid roster; they receive a fourth-round pick from the Falcons in the deal and will likely send back a late fifth-round selection in return because it’s only a five-spot move.

31 – Jacksonville Jaguars (mock trade with Kansas City)

Alex Leatherwood

Alabama · OT · Senior

The Jaguars gave Cam Robinson the franchise tag despite his uneven play because they did not want to be left without a viable starter. Leatherwood could compete with Robinson for playing time this year, or maybe just take over in 2022. He has the versatility to play guard or right tackle, as well, in case injuries decimate the line.

32 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Gregory Rousseau

Miami · Edge · Sophomore (RS)

Rousseau should already be off the board, but one of the top edge rushers will likely fall to this spot. Tampa Bay would love to find this long, versatile defender available, as he would fit in well as a 5-technique (he lined up at the 3 and 5 spots for Miami in 2019) or as a backup edge rusher. William Gholston, Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh will be free agents in 2022, and Rousseau could fill in for any of them.