3 players 49ers may explore trading in 2020 offseason

The San Francisco 49ers have limited resources in both NFL Draft picks and available salary cap space, meaning some players could wind up on the trade block this offseason.

In 2019, the San Francisco 49ers were pretty active on the trade market, moving some key assets in exchange for some key players.

The first notable move was sending a second-round 2020 NFL Draft pick to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for EDGE Dee Ford, which was later followed by the Niners moving their own third- and fourth-round picks to the Denver Broncos in exchange for wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and Denver’s fifth rounder.

Yet those two moves stripped general manager John Lynch of all his day-two selections in the 2020 draft. As of now, San Francisco’s only selection is its first-round pick, No. 31 overall, before the Broncos’ pick in Round 5.

Tack on the relatively small amount of salary cap space the Niners have — currently projected at 13,123,285 per Over the Cap — and one can see how Lynch and Co. may want to explore trading off some excess assets to both clear some cap space and potentially replenish the team’s draft-pick inventory.

Trades are funny things to examine in the NFL. There needs to be a basis for them, and it’s often easy to overlook the fact at least two teams need to be involved. An armchair GM might suggest trading away the 53rd best player on a 53-man roster for another team’s third-round pick, which would be laughable.

So, in that case, Niner Noise explores three players the 49ers could try moving this offseason, breaking down specifically why and how it could work for both teams involved.