Since the NFL implemented its diverse rewards policy in 2020, the San Francisco 49ers have been first.
The Niners received five third-round compensation draft picks for developing Martin Mayhew, Robert Saleh and Mike McDaniel. They’ll get two more for Ran Carthon and another if DeMeco Ryans becomes head coach this offseason.
Five other teams received a total of 10 compensation picks.
The policy adopted in 2020 states: “Clubs that develop a diverse employee who is hired as a senior director of football or head coach at another club will receive draft pick compensation in the form of a compensatory repechage in the third round in each of the following two versions. If a club has two employees hired for a head coaching or general manager position, that club will receive a compensatory third-round pick in the next three drafts.
Mayhew, a former NFL cornerback, was vice president of player personnel for San Francisco before Washington hired him as general manager in 2021.
Saleh was the defensive coordinator for the 49ers before becoming head coach of the New York Jets in 2021.
McDaniel was the team’s offensive coordinator until the Miami Dolphins hired him as head coach last year.
Carthon, also a former player, was director of player personnel before the Tennessee Titans hired him as general manager last week.
“Our overarching goal is to ensure development, which enables the advancement of diverse talent,” league manager Jonathan Beane told The Associated Press.
“That’s exactly what this rewards policy does. It really rewards a club, organization and leaders for developing great talent who happens to be diverse and then have the opportunity to become a general manager or head coach in another club.
Developing these candidates allowed the 49ers to rack up additional draft picks. The team traded a 2023 second-round pick, a 2023 third-round pick, a 2023 fourth-round pick and a 2024 fifth-round pick to Carolina in October for star running back Christian McCaffrey.
“We are lucky to have different avenues, minority coaches who have brought us some choices. I think it allows you to do something like that because you have a few comp lines, and you’ll have more in the future with things of that nature,” Niners general manager John Lynch said.
The Browns (Kwesi Adofo Mensah), Saints (Terry Fontenot), Rams (Brad Holmes), Chiefs (Ryan Poles) and Eagles (Andrew Barry) also received two third-round picks to develop minority candidates.
The 49ers, Eagles and Chiefs will compete in conference championship games on Sunday.
“From what I see, that’s how they operate as an organization,” Beane, NFL senior vice president, director of diversity and inclusion, said of the 49ers. .
“Diversity is something very important to them. They have great diversity in training, football operations and also business operations. They see this as an undeniable strength for the organization and it shows in the performance on the pitch.
Ryans, a two-time Pro Bowl linebacker in 10 seasons with Houston and Philadelphia, is a hot candidate after guiding the league’s top-ranked defense. He appreciates San Francisco’s philosophy on developing coaches and front-office executives.
“It’s just outstanding organization from top to bottom, just how things are done here, first class,” Ryans said. “John and (head coach) Kyle (Shanahan) have done an amazing job bringing the right people in. And when you have everyone coming here, everyone’s opinion counts. Everyone feels like be part of what we do here and I think that’s why the organization has been so successful. It’s just built with the right people in mind. When you have the right people, you can do very good things. And that’s what we did here.
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AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow contributed to this report.
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Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/robmaaddi
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PA NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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