When the 49ers acquired quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo from the New England Patriots in the middle of the 2017 season for a second-round draft pick, the price seemed quite inexpensive.
The 49ers traded the No. 43 overall selection in last year's draft to gain Garoppolo's services, and they were done.
But the Patriots were not.
Predictably, Bill Belichick dealt that pick to the Detroit Lions for a later second-round pick and a fourth-rounder.
That was the first of four trades involving the original pick and all the machinations that followed from it. It's a little bit difficult to follow the paper trail of all the Patriots' deals, as first sorted out by Pats Pulpit.