The San Francisco 49ers are looking at a tough decision in the wake of Week 6's Monday Night Football victory over the Washington Commanders.
Star wide receiver Mike Evans, who was already dealing with injuries entering the game, left after two quarters after aggravating his Achilles. Head coach Kyle Shanahan later clarified it wasn't a serious injury, but there's a strong chance the future Hall of Famer will at least miss the Niners' Week 7 road contest against the Atlanta Falcons.
"Hopefully, he'll be able to play next week," Shanahan said of Evans. "But if not, we'll have to have the rest of the group step up, and hopefully, get him healed up by after the bye week."
With Evans going down, San Francisco's wide receiver shortages couldn't be any more acute. Combine that with how stagnant Shanahan's offense looked in the second half after Evans departed, and it makes sense why there's such a strong clamoring for the 49ers to swing a trade for a wide receiver now.
But should they? Maybe not. That's the dilemma.
49ers may not see Mike Evans' injury as a true catalyst for a trade
Evans joins a (too) long list of injured receivers currently not available, one that includes Deebo Samuel (hamstring), De'Zhaun Stribling (ankle), Christian Kirk (hamstring), Ricky Pearsall (knee) and Demarcus Robinson (ankle).
Currently, assuming the Niners make no substantial moves, Brandin Cooks would be the No. 1 option on the depth chart after only recently signing with San Francisco's practice squad a few weeks prior.
That's not ideal.
Yet the fact the 49ers get a bye in Week 8 following the Falcons game affords them an opportunity to be more patient. If Evans is unavailable for Atlanta, he'd get two weeks thereafter to fully recover.
Likewise, Samuel, Kirk and Robinson are getting that much closer to returning, too, lessening the burden of making a desperate trade to solve a shortage for arguably just one game.
Additionally, with the Niners now on a short week after playing on Monday night, there'd be almost no time for a new-face receiver to adequately learn Shanahan's offense in time for Week 7's contest at Atlanta. Followed by the bye week, a new wideout could easily be buried deep on the depth chart once Evans, Samuel, Kirk and potentially others return from injury.
Would that be a move San Francisco would scramble to make? Potentially not.
Add us as a preferred source on Google