San Francisco 49ers: 5 players who could possibly be moved at the NFL trade deadline
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: Linebacker NaVorro Bowman
This is going to make some people angry. But, again, we’re looking at players the 49ers could trade. Not diving into whether or not they should.
Veteran linebacker NaVorro Bowman is the heart and soul of San Francisco’s defense. That alone keeps his value to the team high. And the fact he’s one of the few remaining players on the roster from the Niners’ most-recent playoff runs has its merits too.
But the 29-year-old Bowman is also coming off his second season-ending injury — an Achilles tear suffered early in 2016.
While Bowman’s recovery has been worth commending, it doesn’t look as if he’s playing like his former All-Pro self.
Not according to Pro Football Focus, at least, who has given him a lowly 45.8 overall grade through four weeks — No. 60 overall out of 83 qualifiers.
Bowman ranks second on the 49ers in tackles this season (17), and it’s pretty clear he’s perfectly adept handling runs up the middle. That would have some value on the open market, should such a deal surface.
Why It Makes Sense
The Niners extended Bowman through 2022 with an average yearly salary of $10.5 million. While San Francisco doesn’t have to worry about cap space right now, a potential $10.8 million cap hit in 2021, when Bowman will be 33 years old, is a bit of a reach.
Bowman’s name alone carries value, especially for a team looking to make an immediate upgrade, defensively.
And with rookie linebacker Reuben Foster clearly looking to be the future at this position, Bowman’s role may wind up diminishing for San Francisco in coming years anyway.
Why It Doesn’t
Bowman’s value goes beyond the play we’ve seen on the field this season. And we still haven’t seen how a potentially dynamic tandem between Foster, who is out with an ankle injury, and Bowman would be over the course of a full season.
Would the 49ers want to give up on that possibility before collecting enough evidence?
Bowman may soon no longer be the Niners’ best linebacker. But it isn’t as if San Francisco has a legitimate replacement waiting in the folds. Perhaps Malcolm Smith, but he’s out for the year with a pectoral injury. And even he shouldn’t be viewed as an upgrade over Bowman.