5 players the 49ers should explore trading before Week 1

The San Francisco 49ers appear to have more competition in training camp in 2019 than ever before under head coach Kyle Shanahan, meaning some excess players could be moved before Week 1. Here are five the team should try trading.

In 2017 and 2018, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have mentioned a lot of tough, tough decisions during training camp when it came to whittling down the 90-man offseason roster to 53 players.

This year, however, one could argue the Niners are as deep across the board as they ever have been during the current regime’s era.

And that’s a good thing. Deeper position groups means more competition, and competition ultimately brings out the best in players vying for key roles and roster spots.

But it also means a number of players, including good-caliber ones, aren’t going to make the cut once the fourth and final preseason game wraps up on Aug. 29. It’s highly likely San Francisco winds up having to make a number of those kinds of decisions once final cuts are announced.

Ideally, the 49ers would be able to trade off each one of their excess commodities to the highest-possible bidder. Yet teams rarely want to trade away their own future assets, particularly NFL Draft picks, making all the one-sided deals seem nothing more than silly when it comes to the discussion.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try, especially if the tradable asset has some pretty high value on the open market.

It’s still relatively early in training camp, and preseason games have yet to begin. Injuries could still occur, and premature trades could be devastating in that regard.

That said, here are five players on the Niners’ current roster Lynch, Shanahan and Co. should explore dealing before Week 1 this season.