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Losing has been the headline for the San Francisco 49ers over the last two months. After suffering a defeat against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 58, they fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after one season.
During the first wave of free agency, they also lost Arik Armstead, Chase Young, Oren Burks, and Javon Kinlaw. This time, they will lose their 2025 fifth-round pick due to an accounting blunder.
The JPAFootball account on X (formerly Twitter) shared:
“REPORT: The #49ers will be forced to forfeit their fifth-round pick in the 2025 Draft and will have their 2024 fourth-round pick moved to the end of the fourth round. This is due to a league review that uncovered multiple administrative payroll accounting errors at the close of the 2022 league year.”
While the exact transgression and the discrepancy between the actual and erroneous figures were not revealed, the news was enough for a football fan to tweet about the 49ers:
“The Niners organization is crooked”
Another NFL follower chimed in:
“classic cheaters committing fraud”
Here are other reactions to the Niners’ accounting error, which cost them a fifth-rounder in next year’s draft.
The NFL’s salary cap for the 2022 season was $208.2 million. During that offseason, the team signed cornerback Charvarius Ward from the Chiefs to a three-year contract and acquired Oren Burks from the Green Bay Packers on a two-year deal.
San Francisco also added free agents Hassan Ridgeway, Ray-Ray McCloud, George Odum, and Tashaun Gipson. At that time, the Niners re-signed some notable players like JaMycal Hasty, Jauan Jennings, Azeez Al-Shaair, Jeff Wilson, and Jason Verrett.
With rookie quarterback Brock Purdy taking over, the 49ers finished that season with a 13-4 record. However, they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game after Purdy suffered an elbow injury.
Coincidentally, losing a fifth-round pick can be massive for San Francisco because they have succeeded in that round. In recent years, they selected eventual starters like Talanoa Hufanga, Deommodore Lenoir, Dre Greenlaw, and George Kittle in Round 5.
The 49ers released an official statement regarding accounting errors
As written by The Athletic’s Matt Barrows and David Lombardi on March 18, the 49ers addressed the issue by stating:
“We take responsibility and accept the imposed discipline from the NFL due to a clerical payroll error. At no time did we mislead or otherwise deceive the league or gain a competitive advantage in connection with the payroll mistake.”
Before losing that pick in 2025, the Niners must gear up for the 2024 NFL Draft. They will have ten selections over seven rounds, including four compensatory picks and an extra fourth-round pick from the Trey Lance trade.
