Tag: 49ers trade

Report: 5 teams would’ve paid Brandon Aiyuk after pre-draft trade

There were 5 teams willing to pay Brandon Aiyuk before the draft according to one report.

There’s a new wrinkle in the Brandon Aiyuk saga.

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk there were as many as five teams before the draft that would have been willing to pay Aiyuk up to $28 million per year had the 49ers been willing to trade him.

It’s not a surprise that San Francisco explored the trade market for the receiver. It’s also not a surprise that Aiyuk’s representatives went looking for what the All-Pro wide receiver  was worth to teams in search of help at the position. However, that so many teams were willing to pony up on a deal for him helps explain why Aiyuk is so dug in on whatever his present demand is.

If Aiyuk wanted $28 million before the draft, there’s a chance that number has ticked up as the market has settled. If the 49ers are still below that mark, it stands to reason that the WR isn’t willing to come down since the market has dictated to him that his demand should actually be higher.

On the other hand, none of this provides any further incentive for the 49ers to trade Aiyuk. Before the draft there wasn’t an offer they were willing to take for him. It certainly doesn’t seem likely a team would now be willing to bring offer even more, which is what it would take to pry him away from San Francisco at this stage of the calendar.

The underlying truth of all this is still here and perhaps even more clear after this report: the 49ers don’t want to trade Brandon Aiyuk.

A contract extension is going to require some form of compromise between the two sides. Given what we know about the market, the 49ers should be willing to come up toward that $28 million per year number. They could even get it to look like $30 million per with the way they structure the deal. Signs point to that eventually happening though since there’s incentive for both the 49ers and Aiyuk to get a deal done at this point. It’s just a matter of getting through the sticky parts of the negotiation to reach a number both sides are comfortable with.

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Prioritizing 49ers needs at NFL trade deadline

A priority list for the #49ers at the trade deadline:

The NFL trade deadline is set for Tuesday at 1:00pm Pacific Time. It would make a lot of sense if the 49ers were active in trying to improve a club that’s now lost three games in a row.

Their addition of pass rusher Randy Gregory looked like it might be the perfect on-the-margins move that could put an uber-talented 49ers club over the top. Since acquiring him in a trade with the Broncos though, San Francisco is 0-3 and its defense hasn’t been able to come up with key stops.

Unfortunately for the 49ers there isn’t one obvious fix. They’re a mess at several spots. It’s unlikely they’re going to wheel and deal to address all of their deficiencies, so they’ll need to prioritize at the deadline. Here’s how we’d lay out those trade market priorities as they enter their Week 9 bye:

49ers land pass rusher Charles Omenihu in trade with Texans

The 49ers got some help in the pass rush department trading for former Texan Charles Omenihu.

The San Francisco 49ers got some help in the pass rush department ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline.

The 49ers have landed young pass rusher Charles Omenihu, who is being traded from the Houston Texans in exchange for a future late-round pick, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Omenihu, a former fifth rounder, has drawn plenty of interest with a lack of pass rushers available, according to Rapoport. It’s a move the should bolster San Francisco’s defensive front.

In 2.5 seasons with the Texans, Omenihu has totaled 7.0 career sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 4 pass breakups.

The 49ers are currently 26th in adjusted sack rate and 22nd in pass defense efficiency, per Football Outsiders. San Francisco has 16 sacks through seven games, which is tied for 20th in the league.

The hope is Omenihu, who doesn’t have any sacks so far in 2021, can help bolster this 49ers pass rush.

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Don’t expect 49ers to explore trade for WR N’Keal Harry

It’s hard to imagine the San Francisco 49ers getting involved in a trade with the New England Patriots for WR N’Keal Harry.

Patriots wide receiver N’Keal Harry wants out of New England. NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo on Tuesday reported Harry officially requested a trade from the team that made him the No. 32 pick in the 2019 NFL draft. The 49ers probably won’t be among the teams kicking tires on the former Arizona State star.

San Francisco could be in the market for an upgrade at wide receiver depending on how their roster at the position looks in camp. They have a slew of options to work in as the No. 3 receiver behind Brandon Aiyuk, another former ASU standout, and Deebo Samuel, who went four picks after Harry in the 2019 draft.

There’s no guarantee one of those options will emerge as a viable No. 3 receiving threat on a club with Super Bowl aspirations, but Harry’s career to this point hasn’t offered a ton of reasons to believe he’s a budding star at his position.

Harry put together a stellar career with the Sun Devils, hauling in 213 balls for 2,889 yards and 22 touchdowns in 37 games. At 6-4, 220 pounds – he affected games at every level in college and brought plenty of size to be a bonafide No. 1 receiver in the NFL.

His pro career hasn’t gone to plan though. Harry in 21 games has 45 catches for 415 yards and four touchdowns, and his 5.11 yards per target ranks last among the 22 receiver drafted in 2019 that have at least one reception. His receptions are No. 12 on that list. His yardage ranks 14th and his 9.2 yards per reception are 21st.

The 49ers already passed on the opportunity to chase Julio Jones on the trade market because they didn’t want to further jeopardize their future drafts which are already thin after trading up for QB Trey Lance in this year’s draft.

“You’ve got to build a team and it’s not just year to year, you’ve got to build it for the future. And, you know, you just think about how hard it is going into drafts,” Shanahan told reporters in early June. “You know, you never know what you’re going to be able to do in free agency, who you’re going to lose, who you’re going to be able to bring in. You’ve got lots of guys on one-year contracts, things like that. Everyone knows we don’t have a first-round pick. But what happens when you don’t have a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick and you lose the number of guys in free agency, which you never can for sure count on. And then you end up going into a draft and you’ve got to get six new spots, but all you have is a third and a fifth-round pick. It’s kind of tough to build your team that way and to consistently do it.”

Harry, even at the low cost of a late-round pick, hasn’t done enough to warrant attention from the 49ers. Shanahan hasn’t been enamored with big, athletic receivers with upside, favoring instead the ability to consistently separate and affect games from multiple spots.

The college version of Harry could do that, but his game hasn’t translated to the pros. Perhaps there’s still a Pro Bowl caliber player there. Harry is immensely talented, but the 49ers aren’t in a position to take on a project. They’d need a player who could help them right away if they’re handing out another draft pick.

If the market is limited and Harry can be had for a late-round pick swap or a future sixth or seventh-round pick, then maybe the 49ers get involved. Barring that specific situation though, Harry won’t likely be the player San Francisco aims for if they do want to upgrade their receiving corps.

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Candlestick Chronicles: What trade up to No. 3 pick means for 49ers

Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee and ESPN’s Nick Wagoner discuss the San Francisco 49ers NFL draft trade with the Miami Dolphins.

It’s an emergency edition of the Candlestick Chronicles podcast!

Chris is joined by ESPN’s Nick Wagoner just after news broke that the 49ers traded three first-round picks to the Miami Dolphins to move up to the No. 3 pick in 2021.

The guys go over what players the 49ers could be targeting with this move, what the long-term ramifications of the trade could be for the team, and what the future now holds for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

49ers pick QB Justin Fields in NFL Wire post-trade mock draft

The San Francisco 49ers wind up picking Ohio State QB Justin Fields in the NFL Wire mock draft following the 49ers’ trade with the Dolphins.

The 49ers on Friday shook up the NFL draft with their blockbuster trade up to the No. 3 overall pick. With that move came a change in how mock drafts played out.

While San Francisco was frequently a landing spot for cornerbacks, wide receivers and the occasional offensive lineman, they’re jump to the third pick makes their position of choice much more clear. They’re eyeing a quarterback, and that’s exactly the direction they go in Mark Schofield’s updated mock draft for the NFL Wire.

Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence goes No. 1 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jets select quarterback Zach Wilson at No. 2, which leaves Mac Jones, Trey Lance and Justin Fields on the board for San Francisco. They choose the third option and scoop Fields out of Ohio State.

Schofield in his mock called Fields his second-favorite quarterback in this draft, and he may become a consensus No. 2 QB in this year’s draft at his Pro Day.

There is speculation that the 49ers might be coming up for Mac Jones, but I think they go in a different direction here. They move up and draft Justin Fields, the Ohio State quarterback who might be sliding down some boards, but remains my second-favorite in the class. Plus, if he runs a 4.38 40-yard dash next Tuesday…?

Fields’ athleticism is surely going to make him intriguing for a team that’s gotten torched by the likes of Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray and Josh Allen the last couple seasons. He rushed for 15 touchdowns in two years with Ohio State, but running isn’t his primary means of moving the football.

He’s an excellent passer who tossed it 579 times in 22 games for the Buckeyes, and completed 68.4 percent of those throws for 5,373 yards, 63 touchdowns and just nine interceptions. On top of that, he has the ability to get outside on bootlegs, throw on the run, and make teams pay for not accounting for his ability to get outside and make plays on the ground.

There are going to be a few options available for San Francisco when they make their selection at No. 3 overall, but if Fields is there, he could be pretty easily the best available player.

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What does 49ers big trade up in the draft mean for Jimmy Garoppolo?

The 49ers aren’t likely to trade or cut Jimmy Garoppolo this year even after a big trade up with the Dolphins in the NFL draft.

Jimmy Garoppolo’s already shaky future with the 49ers now comes with even more uncertainty after San Francisco dealt three first-round picks and a third-round selection to the Dolphins in exchange for the third overall pick in this year’s draft. He appeared poised to at least go into 2021 as the starter, but now with the third overall pick likely to be used on a quarterback, the team’s calculus under center gets a massive overhaul.

Their first option is to keep Garoppolo in as the starter while their draft pick marinates for a year and operates as the upgraded backup the 49ers have coveted. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported this is the 49ers’ intent, and it’s one that would make a lot of sense. Garoppolo can still lead San Francisco to a Super Bowl, but his long-term prospects as an elite quarterback were in question. The 49ers can keep him this year to compete in 2021, then move on next year while saving $25.6 million against the salary cap.

A gap year for the rookie would give him a full season of development in head coach Kyle Shanahan’s system while also getting the opportunity to dip his toes in the NFL water should Garoppolo be unavailable.

They theoretically could’ve done this same thing with a pick later in the draft, but Shanahan needed to take a swing and upset the status quo a little bit. Quarterback is too important of a position to try to continue plugging mid-round picks in and hoping to strike gold. They needed to make a significant move, and this is it.

Another option is they find a trade partner for Garoppolo this year. Perhaps the Bears or Patriots are willing to part with a second-round pick (or even a first) to pry the veteran signal caller away from San Francisco. This may not be something the 49ers even want to entertain though.

They made a series of one-year deals in free agency that should allow them to compete in 2021. Moving off a quarterback who can get them to the Super Bowl to install either a rookie or a veteran with no track record of winning would effectively be punting a year where San Francisco expects to contend for a championship.

The third way this can go is the 49ers outright cut Garoppolo to save $23.6 million against the cap this year. Given the situation laid out above, this seems unlikely. San Francisco would aim for some compensation for the quarterback if they’re going to move on. Just letting him go would be a gross mismanagement from the front office.

Then there’s a fourth, and perhaps unlikeliest scenario. They moved up for something other than a quarterback. Given the talent in this year’s draft and the 49ers’ needs, this is all but impossible. A player like Nick Bosa, who’s a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, might be worth moving up for. Other than that it’s hard to find value in moving three first-round picks for any other position. So, maybe the 49ers want a different position, but that’s something close to an impossibility.

Garoppolo’s time in San Francisco is going to be up soon, but without the 49ers receiving significant compensation for him in a trade, he’s going to be the starter in 2021. Beyond that, his future is much less clear.

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49ers trade 3 first-round picks, 3rd-round pick for No. 3 pick in 2021

The San Francisco 49ers now pick No. 3 overall in the 2021 NFL draft after sending three first-round picks to the Miami Dolphins.

The 49ers on Friday made a massive splash in the NFL draft. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, San Francisco is dealing the No. 12 overall pick and their third-round pick in the 2021 draft, as well as their first-round choices in 2022 and 2023 for the No. 3 overall choice in this year’s draft.

The move presumably means head coach Kyle Shanahan has identified a quarterback he wants to install as the future under center. It also explains why the club wasn’t as aggressive in acquiring a quality backup in free agency.

Trevor Lawrence from Clemson figures to go first overall to the Jaguars, so Robert Saleh and the Jets will be the lone club between the 49ers and whichever signal caller they’ve settled on. There’s some question as to whether New York will take a quarterback or stick with Sam Darnold for the time being.

San Francisco needed to identify a quarterback of the future if they weren’t sold on Jimmy Garoppolo, and they were going to need to take a big swing to get him. This is a pretty significant swing that will determine how Kyle Shanahan’s tenure with the club goes.

What a Deshaun Watson trade might look like for 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers would likely lose picks and a couple of young players in a trade to land Texans QB Deshaun Watson.

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The blockbuster Matthew Stafford trade that sent the 12-year veteran to the Los Angeles Rams probably won’t be the biggest trade involving a quarterback this offseason. Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson wants out, and his market will likely be robust enough that the Texans can’t afford to play the waiting game with him.

In the event that Watson does get dealt, the Houston Chronicle’s John McClain offered a picture of what it might take to pry the three-time Pro Bowler away from the Texans. He noted the deal between the Lions and Rams won’t play a role in setting the market for Watson, but the two first-round picks, one third-round pick and starting quarterback that landed Stafford in Los Angeles doesn’t touch McClain’s guess at a Watson deal:

Two first-round picks, two second-round picks and a pair of young defensive starters is a steep price for any one player. Some teams would argue though that no price is too high for a 24-year-old franchise quarterback.

One of the possible hurdles San Francisco would have to clear in acquiring Watson is just the sheer number of assets it might take. They have their own first-round picks to work with, and their own second-round selections, so the draft compensation wouldn’t be difficult.

Where things could get potentially interesting, and sticky for San Francisco, is the players the Texans might want in return.

The 49ers have a number of young players a team may covet in a trade, but given the nature of the situation with a franchise QB on the other end of the deal, the Texans’ starting point for negotiations would likely begin with Nick Bosa and Fred Warner.

It’s hard to imagine San Francisco would deal their franchise’s defensive cornerstones along with all the picks. A quarterback is important, but dealing Bosa and Warner would effectively signal a complete rebuild for a defense San Francisco already spent three years piecing together. Watson is great and quarterback is the most important position on the field, but blowing up the foundation of the defense that spearheaded a Super Bowl run just a season ago seems drastic.

The 49ers might be willing to deal one of those two players and a couple picks to Houston, but giving away multiple game-changing All-Pro caliber players from an already formidable front seven is antithetical to everything general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan have done from a team-building standpoint over the last four years.

Granted, the entire nature of this deal runs counter to Lynch and Shanahan’s previous offseasons. They’ve shown a willingness to move draft picks when it comes at a relatively low cost. Their trades have never involved first-round picks, save for their trade up in the 2020 draft from No. 31 to No. 25.

Should San Francisco decide to wade into these waters though, they could wind up moving DL Javon Kinlaw and LB Dre Greenlaw, for example. Two young defensive starters with qualities to become bona fide stars in the NFL. They’re also the type of players the 49ers could more easily replace than the likes of Bosa and Warner. Kinlaw was the No. 14 overall pick, but tracking down starting-caliber defensive tackles is easier than tracking down game-wrecking edge rushers.

Arik Armstead is another player Houston may be willing to take on. He has a fairly sizable contract, but a versatile defensive lineman who can stay on the field and be effective for three downs could be enticing for a young, rebuilding defense.

Any move the 49ers make in the Watson sweepstakes will be outside of their comfort zone, and to complete a trade of this magnitude it’s going to hurt a little for San Francisco. They’re not going to be able to sneak out with a bargain, even in the universe where Watson actively forces his way to the Bay Area.

49ers trade LB Kwon Alexander to Saints for Kiko Alonso and draft pick

San Francisco has made a huge trade before Tuesday’s deadline, sending Alexander to New Orleans.

The San Francisco 49ers have struck a deal with the New Orleans Saints before Tuesday’s trade deadline. They’re sending linebacker Kwon Alexander to the Saints, offloading his bloated contract.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the 49ers will get a conditional fifth-round pick and likely a player in exchange for Alexander. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that Kiko Alonso is the player San Francisco will receive as part of the package for Alexander.

Alexander was a Pro Bowler in 2017 with the Buccaneers but he’s only played 13 games for the 49ers since coming to San Francisco before the 2019 season. This season, he’s had issues with missed tackles and overaggressiveness in his pursuit of ball carriers, leading to gaffes for San Francisco’s defense.

The 49ers signed Alexander to a four-year, $54 million contract in 2019 and he was slated to have cap hits of more than $16 million in each of the next two seasons.

In five games this season, Alexander has 30 tackles, one sack and a forced fumble.

The 49ers have depth at linebacker even with Alexander now gone. Fred Warner has become one of the best linebackers in football, and Dre Greenlaw, a fifth-round pick in 2019, has played extremely well this year and will see his role grow in place of Alexander.