San Francisco 49ers: 3 players who could be traded at 2020 NFL Draft
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: Quarterback Nick Mullens
This offseason has already shown just how wild the league can get about quarterback movement. And yet there are still teams in the hunt for a prospective signal-caller in the NFL Draft, a quality backup and/or competition in camp.
The 49ers have two quarterbacks behind the starter, Jimmy Garoppolo, in C.J. Beathard and Nick Mullens. While Kyle Shanahan elected to keep all three on the 53-man roster last season, one has to wonder if the head coach instead chooses to jettison one of the two backups at some point during the draft.
There’s one report saying the Niners already turned down trade offers for Mullens. But that doesn’t necessarily rule out the possibility of it happening during the draft itself.
At any rate and in a perfect world, Beathard would be the quarterback on the move, as he lost out on the No. 2 job to Mullens last year.
Yet Beathard and his 1-9 career starting record won’t exactly generate a lot of trade buzz at draft time. For those thinking San Francisco doesn’t need Beathard and should trade him, it’s worth asking why another team would want to give up draft assets in return.
Mullens, now a tendered exclusive-rights free agent, has a much more favorable contract than Beathard, which is already attractive enough to teams. And the fact he’s been much more successful on the field makes him more valuable an asset to move.
Sure, moving on from a solid backup is a risk for San Francisco. But if another team out there has the compensation Shanahan and John Lynch desire, it wouldn’t be shocking to see a transaction for Mullens pan out.