Tag: NFL trades

49ers will listen to trade calls on any player, with one exception

The #49ers will listen to trade calls on any player … except one.

Since general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan arrived in San Francisco, the 49ers have been consistent in their mantra about trading players. They consistently say they’ll listen to calls about any player in order to do their due diligence. That tune changed when it came to one player.

Lynch on Monday in his pre-draft press conference was asked about the possibility of trading several players, but a question about defensive end Nick Bosa and whether the team received calls about trading him got the GM to leave the safe space of the ‘we listen to everything’ response.

“Yeah, that hotline’s closed, that never opened,” Lynch said when asked about Bosa’s availability and his contract negotiations. “As for the other thing, we’re going to focus on this draft and then, I’ve stated many times that’s a priority for this offseason. History says that we have a really good track record of doing that and making that come to fruition. I’m excited about working on that when the time comes.”

Bosa is entering the fifth and final year of his rookie contract, and the second offseason where he’s been eligible to receive an extension. Not inking a long-term deal last year paid off for Bosa who led the NFL in sacks in 2022 and earned the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award. Now he’s on track to become the highest-paid player in football.

Lynch and the front office will likely wait until deep into the offseason to sign Bosa, who is working out on his own in Florida. The negotiations may trickle into the first days of training camp, but there’s no indication the 49ers are worried about getting a deal done.

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The Bears and their fans enthusiastically celebrated Aaron Rodgers’ departure from the NFC North

Aaron Rodgers’ days of owning Chicago have come to an end.

Aaron Rodgers’ days in the NFC North have come to an end.

After 18 seasons, the Green Bay Packers finally ended his trade saga on Monday afternoon, officially shipping him off to the New York Jets in return for some draft capital. While many fans were relieved to see a resolution to the process, which has been ongoing for more than a month.

But for the Chicago Bears and their supporters, the celebration was for an entirely different reason: Rodgers’ nearly two decades of tormenting the city and its team are finally at an end.

The quarterback boasts an all-time record of 24-5 against the bitter division rival, and he’s suffered just one loss in the series since 2015. During a game against Chicago in 2021, Rodgers even went so far as to yell “I own you!” at the hostile Bears crowd after running for a touchdown in the 24-14 win.

The official team account took to Twitter with a hilarious gif of a bear waving goodbye to Rodgers’ departure from the division on Monday.

Bears fans couldn’t help but join in the party as they’ve finally awoken from their nightmare.

Aaron Rodgers’ expected New York Jets jersey number, revealed

No. 12 is retired by the Jets, and though Joe Namath granted Rodgers permission to use it, the 39-year-old is opting for a change.

After a long wait, the Aaron Rodgers saga finally reached a conclusion on Monday afternoon.

The longtime Green Bay Packers quarterback is heading to the New York Jets as we all expected. In addition to swapping first-round picks in 2023, the Jets will receive a fifth-rounder this year while the Packers get New York’s second and fourth-round picks in 2023 as well as a conditional 2024 second-round pick, which becomes a first-rounder if Rodgers plays on 65% of the team’s offensive snaps this fall.

With all that out of the way, one major question remains: What jersey number will Rodgers wear in the Big Apple?

The 18-year NFL veteran has worn the same No. 12 jersey throughout his professional career, the entirety of which has been spent in Green Bay. But coming to New York threw a bit of a wrench into things.

The Jets have retired the No. 12 jersey, which was worn by Joe Namath, the only quarterback to lead the team to a Super Bowl championship. Namath actually apparently granted Rodgers permission to bring the jersey out of retirement, but instead, the 39-year-old has something else in mind.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Rodgers will don No. 8 with the Jets in 2023, which he wore in college with the California Golden Bears.

As one of the top quarterbacks in football prepares to begin a new chapter in his career, he’ll be doing it with a different jersey number as he hopes to end a playoff drought that dates back to 2010.

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NFL draft: 7 players 49ers could target in trade up

If the #49ers want to jump up the board on Day 2 of the draft, here are some players they may target:

The 49ers have a small issue with their draft capital. They aren’t scheduled to be on the clock until selection No. 99, when they go on a run holding three of the final four picks to close the third round.

With 11 picks at their disposal, including that trio at the end of Day 2, it’s conceivable (and perhaps likely) San Francisco tries to move up into the middle of the third round to snag a specific player they like.

We assessed some trade ideas and barring a move where they unload all of their third-round picks and then some, the 49ers are probably looking at landing somewhere in the No. 65 to 70 range if they deal a couple of their third-round choices and a later pick.

If they do pull the trigger on a jump up the board, here are a handful of players they could target using the three-round projections laid out by Todd McShay and Mel Kiper:

Let’s relax on 49ers QB trade rumors and speculation

The problem with recent QB trade rumors/speculation involving the 49ers:

It’s another NFL offseason where the 49ers have some uncertainty under center, which means another offseason of thrusting San Francisco into various trade rumors revolving around players at the position.

This year the two names lumped in with the 49ers are Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins. Because of course they are. Rodgers was connected heavily to San Francisco in 2021 before they drafted Trey Lance. Cousins has been linked to the 49ers and head coach Kyle Shanahan since 2017.

The 49ers don’t have a surefire franchise quarterback going into this season, and injuries have left Sam Darnold as the only healthy QB on the roster going into April. Trying to push a veteran signal caller to San Francisco makes sense, especially with a roster like theirs that is ready to contend for a Super Bowl.

It’s worth noting that the rumors and speculation are just that. There’s been no hard reporting about the 49ers exploring any deals. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said on his podcast that there was “some chatter” and “some noise” among people in the league at NFL owners meetings “about Cousins being traded to the 49ers.”

This tracks from a 30,000-foot view, but there are reasons it doesn’t make sense for the 49ers to even explore such a move that we’ll get to later.

The Rodgers angle comes from Fox Sports 1 and WFAN host Craig Carton, who on his TV show Tuesday said the 49ers are ready to get involved with all of their third-round picks this year and a first-round pick next year if the Packers don’t work out a deal that sends Rodgers to the Jets.

This, again, makes sense on the surface, but even a small amount of digging shows just how far off the 49ers are from making a monster move like this.

Let’s dive into some of the issues with these moves from San Francisco’s perspective:

New Cowboys WR Brandin Cooks has tied the record for NFL’s most-traded player ever

Brandin Cooks has now been traded FOUR times in his career.

New Dallas Cowboys receiver Brandin Cooks has been everywhere, man.

After the speedy wide receiver was traded to Dallas from the Houston Texans on Sunday morning, Cooks joined the fifth team in his professional career.

Four of those teams were joined by trade. Indeed, Cooks has been traded four times in his career since being taken in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints.

In 2017, the New England Patriots traded a first-round pick and a third-round pick to New Orleans for Cooks and a fourth-round pick. Then, in 2018, the Los Angeles Rams sent a first rounder and a sixth rounder to New England for Cooks and a fourth rounder.

In 2020, the Houston Texans acquired Cooks and a fourth-round pick from the Rams in exchange for a second-round pick. Now, it’s the Texans who traded Cooks to the Cowboys in 2023 for a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft and a sixth-round pick in next year’s draft.

Since 1980, Cooks has now tied NFL Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson for the player who has been traded the most times in his career, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

Cooks will join a Cowboys offense where he’ll slot next to wideout CeeDee Lamb on the depth chart as Dallas’ No. 2 receiver.

It’s a nice landing spot for Cooks, who has learned throughout his career the hard way of how the NFL’s business side can transpire.

Raiders trade TE Darren Waller to Giants for third round pick

Raiders franchise single-season reception leader is gone. Darren Waller traded to the Giants for third round pick

The same day the Raiders agree to terms with a receiver, they have agreed traded one of their best receivers away. Darren Waller is headed to New York in exchange for a third round pick.

Just a couple seasons ago, Waller set a new franchise record with 107 catches in a season and headed to the Pro Bowl. He was celebrated as a great success story as someone who turned his life around after struggling with drug addiction early in his career.

Now a season after receiving a new long term deal with the Raiders — then missing eight games with injury — he is sent away for just a late third rounder (pick 100).

Combined with the team letting Foster Moreau hit the market, the Raiders are now facing being without both their starting tight ends from the past four years. The only tight end on the roster at this moment is Jesper Horsted.

Aaron Rodgers begins discussions with Jets to work out deal on possible trade with Packers

The Jets have cast their line in their attempt to reel in the big fish at QB

A couple of dominoes have fallen in the quarterback market so far. Derek Carr signed with the Saints first. Then Geno Smith re-upped with the Seahawks. Could the next domino be Aaron Rodgers to the Jets?

Well, the next motion in this Rube Golberg machine has occurred that could lead to that.

According to multiple reports, Aaron Rodgers and the Jets have begun discussions and Rodgers is open to the idea of a trade to New York.

Previous to this, the only discussions the Jets had had was with Derek Carr. But they passed on Carr, opting to try and reel in the big fish in Rodgers.

The 39-year-old four-time MVP will not come cheap. The Packers will likely be asking for a package of picks that would include at least one first round pick. Not to mention the hefty $50 million salary in Rodgers’s contract. But the Jets feel they have the rest of the team in place for success and if they think Rodgers in the missing piece to a run at a Super Bowl, that’s a deal you have to make.

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Chargers’ Tom Telesco says he has no plans to move Keenan Allen

Chargers GM Tom Telesco put all the speculations regarding WR Keenan Allen to bed.

With the Chargers currently $20.39 million over the salary cap, there’s been speculation that Keenan Allen could be moved to clear some up. But general manager Tom Telesco all but put the murmurs to bed.

“Keenan Allen isn’t going anywhere,” Telesco told reporters at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, IN, on Wednesday.

Allen is scheduled to earn $15.5 million in 2023, with $21.7 million charged against the salary cap. If he were released before June 1, Los Angeles would save $14.8 million against the cap.

In 2022, Allen missed seven games due to a hamstring issue, finishing with 66 catches for 752 yards and four touchdowns.

The 10-year wideout has been vital to the Bolts’ offense throughout his professional career. During that span, Allen has caught 796 passes for 9,287 yards and 52 touchdowns.

“Keenan Allen, to me, he’s our Andre Reed. He’s our Charlie Joiner,” Telesco said. “He’s an incredible football player. We have a great quarterback, we need weapons around him, there’s never been any thought of that.

While he is getting up in age, set to be 31 this season and coming off an injury-riddled campaign, Allen is productive when healthy. He is still one of the best route runners in the league. He is a safety blanket to third down.

The Chargers need to add speed to their wide receiver room, but letting go of Allen would do more bad than good to the state of the offense.

Telesco will have some wheeling and dealing to do, as the Chargers must comply with the salary cap at the start of the new league year on March 15. But that will likely be without moving their top wide receiver.

“It’s not tempting to me,” Telesco said at his end-of-season press conference. “Good players make money, and I would rather have a lot of good players on our roster than a lot of cap space.”

Deebo Samuel isn’t getting traded this offseason

It would cost the 49ers so much money to trade Deebo Samuel this year.

An internet rumor led to some speculation that the 49ers might trade Deebo Samuel this offseason. The merits of the rumor matter less than the fact there’s not a realistic compensation a the 49ers would accept given the financial ramifications of dealing the 27-year-old wide receiver before the 2023 season.

Samuel signed a three-year extension with the 49ers worth  $71,550,000 with $41 million guaranteed last offseason following a lengthy negotiation that featured a trade request from the former second-round pick.

That request has made Samuel’s name easy to include in trade rumors, but the result of the negotiations was a contract that isn’t super easy to trade for now.

The 49ers would eat a $28,443,000 dead cap charge if they traded Samuel this offseason with no cap relief. That number is derived from the unpaid signing bonuses spread out through 2027. His contract is technically up after 2025, but there a pair of void years tacked on to help spread out his cap number.

Samuel is due to carry a $8,653,529 cap hit in 2023, so dealing him would add a substantial financial burden for a San Francisco club that doesn’t have a ton of wiggle room under the cap. Not to mention they’d be losing one of their top offensive playmakers.

It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Samuel eventually hits the trading block before his contract is up with San Francisco after the 2025 season. It just won’t happen this offseason.

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