49ers news: B/R suggests offseason trade that’s too good to be true

The 49ers have traded for premier pass-rushers before and could do so again, but this suggestion from Bleacher Report is a bit too unrealistic.

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch hasn’t been shy about pulling the trigger on blockbuster trades.

In fact, earlier last season, Lynch and the Niners engineered such a blockbuster by moving a slew of NFL Draft picks to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey.

With McCaffrey in tow, head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense exploded, and San Francisco rode that momentum to within one game of the Super Bowl.

Heading into the offseason, the 49ers don’t exactly have a lot of ammunition to make blockbuster trades. They, too, are limited in salary-cap space and won’t have a lot of assets to attack NFL free agency.

So, why on earth would Lynch want to pull off another blockbuster?

Especially if it looked like this particular one.

Bleacher Report suggests 49ers trade for Za’Darius Smith, and that’s definitely a pipe dream

Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report recently broke down the dream trade scenarios for each team heading into the offseason.

His one for the Niners was quite, well… dreamy.

San Francisco needs a pass-rusher to pair with All-Pro EDGE Nick Bosa, yes. A previous trade, the 2019 move for Dee Ford, didn’t produce the complementary pass-rusher the 49ers needed, as Ford found himself injured more often than not.

With the Niners still hoping that last year’s rookie EDGE, Drake Jackson, takes the next step in his development, it would still be wise to find someone who could contribute now for a team ready to win a Super Bowl.

Enter the Minnesota Vikings, EDGE Za’Darius Smith and Knox’s suggestion that San Francisco makes a trade:

"Bosa (18.5 sacks) accounted for 42 percent of the Niners’ quarterback takedowns in 2022, and San Francisco could potentially lose several complementary pass-rushers in free agency. Samson Ebukam, Charles Omenihu, Jordan Willis and Kerry Hyder Jr. had 12.5 combined sacks this past season and are all slated to become free agents.In a dream scenario, the Vikings would make Za’Darius Smith available as part of their salary-purging efforts. Trading Smith before June 1 would save Minnesota $13.7 million in cap space, which would account for a large portion of its $21.3 million cap deficit."

Knox admits the difficulties with this, particularly the lack of cap space for the 49ers to absorb Smith’s contract in 2023. And Knox also admits it’d be tough for the Niners to engineer a trade because they don’t have a first- or second-round pick in this year’s draft.

The Round 1 selection was used as part of the 2021 deal for quarterback Trey Lance, while the Round 2 pick was part of the McCaffrey trade package to Carolina.

That all said, Knox feels as if two of the Niners’ third-round compensatory selections would get the job done:

"Smith would also likely make a more immediate impact than a drafted rookie, especially considering San Francisco doesn’t have first- or second-round selections.Given Minnesota’s need to create cap space, a third-round pick or two might be able to get a deal done."

Related Story: Why Niners received draft picks for DeMeco Ryans, Ran Carthon leaving

Sounds too good to be true, right?

For starters, Minnesota could easily opt to keep Smith. Even if it was looking to trade the 30-year-old pass-rusher, the fact he’s had double-digit sacks and Pro Bowl nods in three of the last four years (2021 being derailed by injury) means that other teams are surely willing to dish up more than just a couple of Round 3 draft picks if the Vikings are putting him on the trade block.

It is a dream trade for San Francisco, perhaps. But, like many a dream, it’ll simply stay that way because it’s not realistic.