49ers news: 2021 NFL free agency tracker with updates, analysis
By Peter Panacy
Marquise Goodwin back with 49ers?
In one of the odder transactions during the negotiations window, veteran wide receiver Marquise Goodwin reverted back from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Niners.
This, reported by ESPN’s Field Yates:
This is unique: WR Marquise Goodwin has now reverted back to the 49ers from the Eagles per terms of the trade made last year. This will likely be just a procedural move, as it’s unlikely Goodwin fits into San Francisco’s WR plans.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 16, 2021
Goodwin was traded to the Eagles in the middle of last year’s NFL Draft, San Francisco using him as a chip to move up from No. 210 overall to No. 190 overall where the team selected tight end Charlie Woerner.
Yet Goodwin elected to opt out of the 2020 season because of the pandemic. NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco subsequently reported the Niners have to send a seventh-round pick over to Philly as part of the procedural move:
Per terms of the Marquise Goodwin-to-#Eagles trade last year, Goodwin reverts back to the #49ers, the NFL announced Tuesday.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) March 16, 2021
The 49ers must send the Eagles their original seventh-round pick this year. S.F. now has nine draft picks.
Goodwin spent three years with the 49ers, including a near 1,000-yard campaign back in 2017, which marked a career-best. But injuries and lack of field time eventually forced Kyle Shanahan to move on a year ago.
The Niners do have depth questions at the position, and there’s been a lack of a true deep threat since Goodwin departed.
But as Yates suggested, it’s not likely San Francisco would retain Goodwin at this point. On March 17, he was released off the opt-out list.