Detroit received one useful season from Dave Kopay: 14 games,…
Detroit received one useful season from Dave Kopay: 14 games, five starts and 337 scrimmage yards in 1968. San Francisco's two picks produced opposite results. Lance Olssen played only nine games without a start, but Jim Sniadecki stayed five seasons and appeared in 58 games for the 49ers. That durability gives San Francisco the better realized return, B- to C+, rather than the previous even verdict.
Detroit Lions Received
- player Dave Kopay
San Francisco 49ers Received
- pick 1968 third round pick (#65- Lance Olssen )
- pick 1969 fourth round pick (#86- Jim Sniadecki )
Trade Analysis
The Exchange
San Francisco sent Dave Kopay to Detroit for a 1968 third-round pick and a 1969 fourth-round pick. The 49ers used No. 65 in 1968 on offensive lineman Lance Olssen and No. 86 in 1969 on linebacker Jim Sniadecki. Unlike a generic pick-value discussion, this trade can be judged from the exact players those choices produced and Kopay's actual Lions season.
Detroit Lions Return
Detroit got immediate but short-lived use from Kopay. NFL statistics show that he played all 14 games in 1968, started five, rushed 53 times for 207 yards and caught 18 passes for 130 yards. That is 337 yards from scrimmage in his only Lions season. He moved on to Washington in 1969, so Detroit's realized return was a one-year role player rather than a long-term piece.
San Francisco 49ers Return
San Francisco missed on the first pick. Olssen, the No. 65 selection, appeared in seven games as a rookie and two more in 1969, never starting a regular-season game. Sniadecki supplied the durability the first pick lacked. NFL records show 58 games for San Francisco from 1969 through 1973, including 14 appearances in four different seasons and one interception in 1973. He remained a 49er for five seasons.
Value in Hindsight
The trade is not a blowout because Kopay gave Detroit a meaningful season and San Francisco got almost nothing from Olssen. The separating asset is Sniadecki. A five-year, 58-game linebacker return from the later fourth-round choice outweighs one season of 337 scrimmage yards, even without pretending that every Sniadecki appearance carried starter-level impact. The 49ers created more sustained roster service from the package.
Final Verdict
Detroit stays at C+ for receiving a useful one-season contributor. San Francisco moves to B- and the verdict changes from Even Trade to San Francisco 49ers Win. Olssen was a clear miss, which caps the grade, but Sniadecki's 58-game tenure supplies the concrete long-term value that the earlier treatment failed to describe.