A crazy 49ers draft day trade that may just make sense

NFL draft season is upon us, and the draft starts in just a day's time. On that Thursday night of the draft that is the first round, there's always some craziness and some unexpected things that happen. A team takes a player nobody expected or an insane trade is made, and sometimes both. Knowing this, there may be a Patriots-49ers trade possibility crazy enough to work.

The 49ers and Patriots came together on a trade last October that sent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers for a second round pick (now 43rd overall). The teams are now familiar with one another and know the high value of the QB position. Would it make sense for the 49ers to return the favor a bit and help the Patriots land their future QB?

The era of Tom Brady will close soon. Despite all the talk he'll play until he's 45, I just can't see him staying much longer, maybe 2-3 years more at best. Bill Belichick is arriving at his end too and may not even outlast Brady. So the Patriots need a succession plan. It looks like their heir apparent at head coach will be Josh McDaniels (actually it's blatantly obvious). They also need a succession plan for Brady as the only other QB on their roster is veteran journeyman Brian Hoyer. It's suffice to say that they badly need a future QB, and this draft seems like their best bet with the deep and talented class of QBs there are available. 

The Patriots hold two first round picks and a bevy of other valuable picks beyond that. They have all the ammo they need to trade up into the top 10 for a QB. Here's where the 49ers come in.

The 49ers hold the number 9 pick in the NFL draft. While that pick likely is too far away for them to get Darnold, Rosen, Allen or even Mayfield, there's still an option there they may want.

That option is Lamar Jackson of Louisville. Jackson is the only QB the Patriots gave a pre-draft visit to, and they reportedly came away impressed. It seems to me this would be the QB that Josh McDaniels would want to begin with in his tenure as Patriots head coach. 

People might say Jackson could be there at 23 when the Patriots pick, but I actually doubt it. With where teams stand now in pick position, the Dolphins, Ravens, Cardinals, Bills (2 picks at 12 and 22), Chargers and Bengals all could be in position to take Jackson ahead of the Patriots first pick and some teams behind them like the Jags, Saints and Steelers might be aggressive and try to trade up themselves to get ahead of the pack for that pick to take Jackson. Jackson seems like a guy that is garnering a lot more love lately than before and could be a hot commodity in the middle of the first round. 

In order to get him, the Patriots might have to make a very un-Patriot-like move and trade up into the top 10 to get Jackson before the 6 or 7 other teams can make a play for him in the middle of the first round. This would mean trading the 23rd and 31st picks plus a couple other picks later on for the 9th pick (49ers might cut the Patriots the slightest of discounts because of Garoppolo, just to keep the relationship strong as ever but the haul would still be significant). 

I think it is interesting that Lamar Jackson was the only QB the Patriots brought in for a pre-draft workout. It makes it seem on the surface like they are honing in on him. If that is true, which is no guarantee, the Patriots will have to find a way to trade ahead of all the teams in the middle of the pack of the first round that could pick Jackson too. This is why a trade up with the 49ers at 9 might be just crazy enough to work. The Patriots have plenty of draft capital to make this deal and the Patriots and 49ers current regimes have a history of making deals with each other and there's a relationship present between them.

Many people might not even consider this a possibility but if I've learned anything from draft day, it's that you have to expect the unexpected. The craziest things that happen may also be the most obvious things you can think of. So, watch out for this trade on Thursday night. 

NFL mock draft: Top 10

We are just a couple short days away from the NFL draft, and that means that final NFL mock drafts will be flying around like crazy. Knowing that, I think it's time I throw in my first round mock draft top 10 into the mix. 

1: Browns- Baker Mayfield, QB Oklahoma
Rumors are swirling about Baker Mayfield to the Browns. Knowing that Dorsey likes a similar style QB that he has now in Tyrod Taylor makes it more credible. This may just be their pick. 

2: Bills (pick acquired from Giants)- Josh Rosen, QB UCLA
I think Rosen is the most polished QB in this class and the most immediately ready. I don't know if he'd immediately start in Buffalo though with McCarron in tow. I think this would be a slam dunk pick for the Bills and a nice lading spot for Rosen. 

3: Jets- Sam Darnold, QB USC

Jets see two top QBs go off the board before they pick but still end up with a QB they love (and the best QB in the class). In my opinion, Darnold has 'it'. It's hard to describe, but his intangibles are there, and he is a clutch player and a winner. He is athletic for his size and can make plays. I won't get on his case for his turnovers in college as that is fixable. I believe he will be a star and fix the Jets problems at QB for a long time. 

4: Browns- Bradley Chubb, EDGE NCST

The Browns feel good on offense and decide they can improve that more later. They pair up Chubb with Myles Garrett to haunt offensive lines for years. 

5: Cardinals (pick acquired from Broncos)- Josh Allen, QB Wyoming
Cardinals finally get their QB here and make an aggressive move to get Allen as Broncos don't see a player at their pick worth taking. Elway passing on a QB like this. Imagine that.

6: Colts- Quenton Nelson, OG Notre Dame

One of the most obvious needs in all the NFL is the Colts needing an offensive line. New head coach Frank Reich had success with a good o-line in Philadelphia and will want to build similar in Indianapolis. Picking a lineman at 6 may be a reach, but protecting Luck is something they need to address early and often in this draft. 

7: Buccaneers- Saquon Barkley, RB PSU
Tampa Bay's eyes widen as they see a game-changer in Barkley fall to them somehow. They take the gift that has been given to them despite some team's best efforts to trade up to get Barkley themselves. 

8: Bears- Tremaine Edmunds, LB VT
The Bears would have liked if Nelson fell here, but since he didn't they look at trade options but don't see a good enough one to pull the trigger. They feel that the player they pick is more valuable than trading and they take a legit high-upside LB in Edmunds. 

9: Patriots (pick acquired from 49ers)- Lamar Jackson, QB Louisville

This might be the most shocking thing in this mock draft. The Patriots and 49ers made a QB deal before and they do it again. The Patriots sense Lamar Jackson could go to the Dolphins, Giants (who in this draft pick at 12 after trade with Bills), Ravens, Chargers or anyone else ahead of when they pick at 23, and they see Jackson's stock rising and they want him before he's gone. They are impressed by Jackson and this is the QB that heir apparent HC Josh McDaniels wants to start with in his tenure, so they make the super aggressive play to get him. The 49ers get a haul from the Patriots that includes both the 23rd and 31st picks plus other picks in the draft to play around with.

10: Raiders- Calvin Ridley, WR Alabama 

Jon Gruden wants to continue building that offense, so they pair up former Alabama WR Amari Cooper with another former Alabama product in Calvin Ridley. That duo could be lethal too. Derek Carr would have fun throwing to these two guys for a long time to come. 

Overall, I think Thursday night will be wild, particularly in the top 10. The motivations to get a QB will drive it, and there's a chance the real draft is even crazier than this little mock draft. I almost expect to be blown away by what we'll see on Thursday night. Buckle up. 

*Updated on Thursday 4/26 (originally posted Tuesday 4/24) 

The Vegas Golden Knights have a lot to be proud of

The Vegas Golden Knights came into the league this past year, and they made their entrance into the NHL a very loud one. In their inaugural season, they not only made the playoffs, they won their division....... by a good margin no less. They took the league by storm.

When they set out on the long journey of this NHL season which spans half the year, there were no expectations. This team was projected to be around the bottom as it was thought they would need to draft and develop to win at a high rate, and the thinking was that immediate success was not in the cards. 

The group that came into camp was largely a misfit bunch on the surface. A couple notable names like James Neal and Marc-Andre Fleury lead the group from a talent standpoint, but even they are seen as fringe star players at this point. The rest of the team consisted of a mix of decent veterans, as well as young players that had not reached their potential. This group was expected to be the ultimate tank machine if we had ever seen one. The pure analytics and nature of this team didn't make it seem like they'd do anything more than gasp for air from the bottom every so often, and it was a believable thought too. The team on the ice, however, had other ideas.

Despite having no big star players, this team ended up blending well together quickly, and it wasn't one guy leading the charge solely either. All the guys on all four lines were contributing with regularity. 

They ended up picking up some steam the first few months of the season, and the hype train was out of the station and rolling. Some people thought they'd fade, especially when Fleury got hurt and the backup Malcolm Subban followed suit shortly thereafter. That didn't stop them and they didn't fade. In fact, they hit a stretch in the middle of the year where they looked unbeatable. It was truly a sight to behold. 

The hype for this team both in and away from Las Vegas hit peak levels by January and into February as the team was not just a legitimate playoff contender, but a division, President's trophy and Stanley Cup contender too. While they didn't win the President's trophy, they did win the division and are the technical 2 seed in the Western Conference and top 5 in all of hockey in points this year, so they are serious Stanley Cup contenders by definition.

This team did it by getting enormous contributions from unsung heroes. Guys like Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith and most of all William Karlsson crushed their career highs in many areas. They had to bring up a couple different goalies to fill in for injuries to Fleury and Subban, and those guys were outstanding given the circumstances. Fleury and Neal, despite being hurt for a chunk of time each, performed the way you'd come to expect. 

The pieces came together and gelled into place better than anyone could have imagined, and Head Coach Gallant deserves a lot of credit for pushing all the right buttons with this team. It can't be easy to get all those different pieces from all different places to come together like that. I think each of these players had a chip on their shoulder after being exposed in the Expansion Draft though as they may have felt unwanted and made it a goal to prove everyone wrong. Well, many of them did just that. 

The Vegas Golden Knights have shattered just about every record and expansion team can shatter, and they are now 16 wins away from being the first team to win a Stanley Cup in their inaugural season. That wouldn't just cause the NHL world to shake, but the sports world would be forever different if that happened. But to keep things in perspective, no matter what happens in the playoffs, the Vegas Golden Knights must remember that what they accomplished this season may never be done again by a first-year team. This is a special group that did special things and even if they don't hoist the Cup in June, it was still a very magical season for a group that wasn't expected to even be this close to hockey's greatest glory. Be proud, Golden Knights!