SF 49ers roster: 4 players who could be traded before 2022

The SF 49ers haven’t been shy about trading away players. And while it’ll be difficult this offseason to do so, these four could be moved before 2022.

Early in the 2020 offseason, the SF 49ers shocked their fanbase by moving Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts. Later on during the regular season, the Niners moved linebacker Kwon Alexander to the New Orleans Saints.

Generating sufficient cap space was the primary motivator behind each deal, as San Francisco apparently didn’t have the means to extend Buckner at the time. And getting out from underneath Alexander’s lucrative contract made life easier on general manager John Lynch and Co. for 2021 and beyond.

While the 2022 salary cap is expected to increase from the approximate $183 million where it’ll be at this year, the SF 49ers are going to find a much tougher cap situation to navigate with a number of young up-and-coming players poised to cash in on lucrative extensions. These may force Lynch to move some other expensive players by the way of trades between now and the start of the 2022 season, either at the regular-season trade deadline or a year from now.

As far as who could be moved? It’s anyone’s guess. But these four players could be candidates.

No. 4: SF 49ers EDGE Dee Ford

There are some serious complications with regards to moving EDGE Dee Ford via a trade.

For starters, there’s an injury history that limited him to just 11 regular-season games in 2019 and only one game last year, and Lynch isn’t overly confident in Ford’s status to return to the field this season. On top of that, Ford has an injury guarantee worked into his contract, which will kick in on April 1 if he’s still on the roster.

On top of that, Ford is scheduled to make more than $20 million in 2021, which is going to be a tough sell on the trade market.

If Ford remains on the roster to kick off the regular season, returning to health would obviously be paramount. Yet the Niners certainly would entertain the idea of getting out from under the remaining two-plus years on his current deal, which will cost $21.8 million each season for both 2022 and 2023.

Few teams would be willing to take on that kind of money for an oft-injured player, so San Francisco might be in a situation where it could be forced to ship off NFL Draft compensation and Ford as part of a trade package to another team to absorb the deal.

By doing so at least, the SF 49ers would be cleared from $17 million in cap space in each of the following two years.