The 49ers pulled off an incredible switcheroo Saturday.
General manager John Lynch acquired left tackle Trent Williams from Washington, which allowed 13-year veteran Joe Staley to retire from the NFL.
It's not often a team can replace a six-time Pro Bowl left tackle with a seven-time Pro Bowl left tackle. But that's exactly what the 49ers were able to do.
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Lynch received a lot of praise in the three days since those moves went down.
So how did all the moving parts fall into place?
"The reality on that deal, we didn't really have the conversation with Joe until the week of the draft," Lynch told NFL.com's Nick Shook on Tuesday. "Because I think Joe was trying to give himself and his body time. Joe wanted to keep playing, his body simply didn't allow for it. We felt like the quarantine, everything going on was his best friend and our best friend. Just give him time as he gets away from the season, maybe his body comes around.
"Finally, draft week, Joe picked up the phone and said 'Guys, I can't do this, I've got to make a decision for my family.' So that gave us, it was very opportune that Trent Williams was sitting out there. We quickly interjected ourselves in that conversation. I worked hard with [Washington coach] Ron Rivera to try to get it done and we did as an organization, and fortunately, we were able to do it."
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We've since learned that Staley has been contemplating retirement for most, if not all, of the offseason.
Staley wanted to make sure the only franchise he's over known could try to figure out how to replace him, so he set the week of the NFL draft as the deadline for him to make his decision.
“I tried to be as open and honest as I could during that whole entire time because it was really important for me to make sure whatever the decision I was going to make that I wasn’t screwing them over,” Staley said Tuesday during a video conference call with local reporters. “I knew that the draft was basically the deadline for that, for me and also for them, just because I wanted them to know 100 percent what I was going to do by then.”
Lynch appreciated Staley giving him a heads up that he might need to find a new left tackle, and is thrilled to add an accomplished player like Williams.
"Joe Staley, we knew there was an opportunity or a chance that he wasn't going to be with us and that was going to be tough," Lynch told Shook. "But we were able to pull something off for Trent Williams, which I think was the cherry on top of this draft. I believe we have a chance to be a better football team this year, and that's very exciting for all of us."
[RELATED: Staley happy how things played out]
In less than two months, the 49ers have lost two leaders from last year's Super Bowl runner-up -- Staley and defensive lineman DeForest Buckner, who was traded to the Indianapolis Colts.
"We'll miss Joe," Lynch said. "Joe's been a huge part of this franchise. But to come up with a guy like Trent Williams at that late date was a godsend for us."