(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
It’s the what-if that drives 49ers fans crazy, but it was much closer to happening than many even realize.
Larry Krueger shared a never-before-told story during the 49ers Pregame Show on KNBR Sunday morning, detailing just how close San Francisco to landing Aaron Rodgers in a trade after selecting Alex Smith with the No. 1 overall pick in 2005.
It all centered around a deal with Jon Gruden and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“The Niners end up taking Alex Smith No. 1,” Krueger began. “I think there was roughly a half hour between picks, we’re in the war room. Normally, when the pick gets made the general manager comes in within five to 10 minutes, 15 max. Half hour comes, there’s no Scot McCloughan, there’s no Mike Nolan, nobody’s coming in. Second pick, now we’re there for an hour, now and hour and a half. It’s the third pick, it’s the fourth pick.
“Well, I’m communicating with Mike Sullivan (Aaron Rodgers’ agent) and he says ‘The Niners have interest in trading with Tampa.’ Tampa had additional picks in the third and fifth round, the 49ers were hoping to get a bonanza of picks in a trade down with Tampa at No. 5. But that year Jon Gruden and his staff coached in the Senior Bowl, and they had fallen in love with Cadillac Williams out of Auburn. With them on the clock they turned down the Niners on the trade front, and decided to take Cadillac Williams.
“As soon as that pick was announced, Mike Nolan popped into the room and said ‘We considered trading Alex Smith, but we’re gonna stay with Alex Smith’ and he made it official publicly.”
Krueger says that part of the reason they selected Smith at No. 1 over Rodgers, had to do with owner John York not wanting to be publicly perceived as cheap. It was known at the time that Smith’s agent Tom Condon would be pushing for a lucrative deal, while Sullivan was more open to a team friendly deal for Rodgers.
“Ultimately the 49ers didn’t have a lot of conviction. They liked both quarterbacks, they tried to get Rodgers but they wanted to get value. They didn’t want to be perceived as being cheap in any way, and the deal they had with Tampa fell out in the 11th hour, and that’s how Alex Smith became a 49er.
“Not that they didn’t like Alex Smith, they had them graded relatively the same, but there was a huge sentiment in the organization to go with Aaron Rodgers, and they would’ve been totally happy to trade with Tampa and take Rodgers at No. 5, and instead they didn’t make that trade and Rodgers fell all the way to No. 24 and he went to Green Bay and the rest is history.
“That was the moment, right then and there.”
Smith played for the 49ers for eight seasons, finally coming into his own with Jim Harbaugh in 2011. Williams burst onto the scene for the Bucs, rushing for 1178 yards in his rookie season, but flamed out quickly, never again reaching four digits before retiring in 2011. Rodgers of course went on to have a hall of fame career.
Had the trade gone through, it would’ve irrevocably changed the future of all three franchises.
