© Kevin Jairaj | 2019 Dec 7
The NFL Combine is in the rearview mirror, so it’s time for franchise tag panic, free agent lunacy and all of the draft projections you can possibly imagine. Below are five far-fetched, but not impossible moves the 49ers could (at least theoretically) make this offseason:
Tom Brady signs for 49ers, Jimmy Garoppolo traded
This is obligatory. It’s not going to happen, but if you’re going to talk about the five wildest scenarios for the 49ers, it has to be mentioned. The narrative is obvious. Brady would love to sign for his hometown team, which is clearly poised to make another championship run, and Garoppolo, for as tremendous as he was for most of the season, and especially down the stretch, failed in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.
When you need your quarterback to take the game over — which Garoppolo showed he could do — he wasn’t there. So, bring in the six-time Super Bowl winner, send Garoppolo somewhere (Patriots, Chargers, Buccaneers, Colts, etc.) for draft picks, re-sign Emmanuel Sanders and draft one of those enticing wide receiver prospects.
Of course, this is all ignoring that Garoppolo was (is) better than Brady last season and that sort of move would cause a riot in a locker room that by all accounts, loves their low-maintenance quarterback.
Trade up for Jerry Jeudy, CeeDee Lamb or Henry Ruggs III
There’s a chance one of these elite three falls. If another team makes a surprise move for another wide receiver, like TCU’s Jalen Reagor or Baylor’s Denzel Mims (whose stock shot up with an elite Combine performance), one of them could fall into that 15-plus range.
For a team that’s drafted a wide receiver for 17-straight years, always looking for the next Terrell Owens, the next Jerry Rice, there’s a good chance one of those three could actually have a historic career. Lamb looks in every way to be the next star wide receiver, polished in just about every aspect of his game. Jeudy proved he was faster than expected, is physical and a tremendous route runner with fantastic catch in traffic potential, and Ruggs might be the most athletic player in the draft and perfectly fit for a league that’s made it harder to get physical with wide receivers.
The 49ers have very little draft capital, but if they were to trade Arik Armstead for picks, and dip into their pool of 2021 draft picks, they could theoretically make a move into the late teens here to draft one of these very high-ceiling guys.
Trade Dee Ford for Will Fuller V, two draft picks
Remember, Bill O’Brien is the guy who traded two first-round picks, one fourth-round and one sixth-round pick to the Miami Dolphins for Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills, the guy who traded away JaDeveon Clowney for Jacob Martin, Barkevious Mingo and a third-round pick.
He is all about the big-play move. Ford dealt with chronic quad/knee tendinitis and a nagging hamstring injury; particularly problematic for an edge rusher who relies heavily on one of the league’s best get offs. He played most of his career in the Chiefs’ 3-4 scheme and would be a comfortable fit for a Texans team looking to add another edge rusher.
The trade here would be acquiring Fuller, an injury-prone but dynamic deep threat, along with the Texans’ 2020 fourth and a 2021 mid-round pick. This would allow the 49ers to bolster their secondary, and clear about $9 million to re-sign Arik Armstead and extend George Kittle and DeForest Buckner comfortably. It would, however, come with a $6.5 million dead cap for this season.
Let Ward, Sanders walk, tag-and-trade Armstead, trade Dee Ford, sign JaDeveon Clowney, draft safety, defensive lineman, wide receiver
This would be an insane series of events, betting on Clowney being an upgrade over Ford, especially from a health standpoint, which isn’t a safe bet. This would net the 49ers a significant amount of draft capital, allowing them to acquire high-level talent in the draft.
The appeal of this would be clearing some space from Armstead and Ford to acquire Clowney, and bring in plenty of starter-potential youth at key positions for years to come. This would obviously be betting on a rookie wide receiver, defensive lineman and potentially a safety to play key roles in their first seasons.
Trade Ahkello Witherspoon, draft a corner, safety, re-sign Armstead and Sanders to significant deals
Witherspoon will be a free agent next year and Emmanuel Moseley proved he should probably be the starter next season, though the gap isn’t chasmic. Despite being benched and injured, Witherspoon showed flashes of playing at a genuine All-Pro level at the start of the 2019 season, and is just 24 years old with a $2.39 million cap hit. Trading him would save about $1.6 million in cap space and potentially net a third-round pick.
Re-signing Armstead and Sanders to pricey deals would be keeping two key players intact, allowing the 49ers to focus their draft efforts on a safety and corner, of which there are a number of enticing prospects in this draft.
Safeties: Cal’s Ashtyn Davis, Minnesota’s Antoine Winfield Jr., Notre Dame’s Alohi Gilman and Lenoir-Rhyme’s Kyle Dugger.
Cornerback: TCU’s Jeff Gladney, Ohio State’s Damon Arnette, Alabama’s Trevon Diggs and Clemson’s A.J. Terrell.