John Lynch: 49ers Overpaid a Player $75,000, Error Led to NFL Draft Pick Penalties

The NFL docked the San Francisco 49ers a 2025 fifth-round pick and moved their 2024 fourth-rounder back four slots this offseason because of a payroll error.

General manager John Lynch said the punishment occurred because the team accidentally overpaid a player.

"We overpaid a player ... by $75,000," he told reporters. "... This was back in the COVID era, and there was a new system in place. And so, it happened. We own our part. We've gone through a whole mitigation deal to remedy some of the issues that happened. But the league decided to impose that, so you take your medicine and you move on."

Lynch implied that the player didn't give the money back when the team realized the error and attempted to recoup the overpayment, saying "the player did what you'd think he'd do."

He added that the error didn't take the 49ers over the salary cap and he has a "difference of opinion on the severity" of the punishment levied by the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell.