3 players 49ers may dangle on trade block in 2021
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: 49ers Running Back Raheem Mostert
Just like trading for a player entering his contract year, teams also aren’t overly willing to reach for aging and injury-prone running backs getting close to 30 years old.
From that vantage point, it would be difficult for the Niners to move veteran running back Raheem Mostert, who just turned 29 years old and is coming off a 2020 campaign limited to just eight games because of injuries.
Still, Mostert remains a valuable commodity. The 2020 NFC Championship win over the Green Bay Packers proved how he can take over a game, and the fact Next Gen Stats listed him twice the fastest ball-carrier last year only reinforces the speed element of his game.
San Francisco spent the offseason stockpiling its running back room, adding Wayne Gallman in free agency before drafting Trey Sermon and Elijah Mitchell in Rounds 3 and 6, respectively. Sermon is already seeing a good deal of use during offseason workouts and could figure to take a lot of snaps away from Mostert this season.
Read More: What to expect from running back Trey Sermon in Year 1
Another caveat here is depth running back Jeff Wilson Jr., whose meniscus injury will keep him out four to six months but make him eligible for a possible late-season return.
If Wilson is poised to return healthy and the 49ers are getting quality production from players like Sermon, Mitchell and Gallman, Mostert becomes something of an excess commodity.
Not likely to be a part of their long-term plans, the Niners would be wise to see if some halfback-needy team would be willing to offer up a day-three pick for Mostert at some point near the NFL trade deadline.