6 pending free agents 49ers shouldn’t bother re-signing
By Peter Panacy
No. 4: 49ers Wide Receiver Trent Taylor
Again, a fairly easy choice from San Francisco’s vantage point.
One can only wonder what wide receiver Trent Taylor‘s career would have looked like if injuries didn’t start to hinder his development in 2018. The year before, the 49ers’ fifth-round NFL Draft choice looked to be an important part of the offense, serving as both a third-down weapon and favorite target of Jimmy Garoppolo. Once Taylor’s rookie year was done, he had accumulated 43 receptions for 430 yards and two touchdowns.
Those numbers remain career-highs.
A back injury thwarted much of Taylor’s follow-up campaign to his rookie season. Then a Jones fracture in his foot derailed anything he was going to do in 2019 despite having a strong training camp that year.
And after being relegated to the depths of the Niners’ wide receiver room in 2020, including being a healthy scratch towards the end of the season, it’s pretty apparent Kyle Shanahan’s long-term plans won’t include Taylor any longer.
True, San Francisco has some serious depth questions at the position behind the two presumed starters, Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel.
Yet the 2021 draft is awfully deep with wideouts, and there are more than a few options the 49ers can grab to replace Taylor on the roster.