The San Francisco 49ers are clearly buyers ahead of the Nov. 10 trade deadline. They made a major purchase by landing DeForest Buckner from the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a fourth-round pick, but what if in order to make an upcoming trade, they had to part with a player currently on the team?
That’s where wide receiver Jordan Watkins could come into play.
Watkins has been forced into a larger role as the season has gone on with all of the injuries. He had his best game of the season in Week 7 against the Atlanta Falcons when he hauled in three receptions for 56 yards and would've had a touchdown, but it was called back after the officials deemed he did not control the ball.
Why would a team want Watkins in a trade? Well, even though he did not do much in his rookie season and was seen as a sort of borderline player coming into 2026, he still has promise and would not be a rental as his rookie contract goes through the 2028 season.
In nine career regular-season games, he has just eight receptions for 164 yards, so it's not like teams are going to be stumbling over one another to acquire him. Yet, Watkins has shown that when given more consistent opportunities, he can make the most of them. So if he was traded to a rebuilding team that is able to give him more consistent reps, then maybe he could reach his full potential.
49ers can dangle Jordan Watkins as part of a trade package
Why not include Watkins in a trade if the 49ers try to go after a big-name wide receiver? For the sake of argument, what if they gave up a first-round pick and additional picks in exchange for New York Jets receiver Garrett Wilson?
Maybe throwing Watkins in the deal as a guy who could potentially develop into a solid player would sweeten the pot a little bit and make New York more likely to strike a deal while saving San Francisco a draft pick in the process.
From San Francisco's perspective, Watkins may not be in the picture at wide receiver much following the bye week, especially if Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, Demarcus Robinson, and eventually De'Zhaun Stribling are able to come back.
Trading Watkins would be a bit risky because the Niners have already burned through all of their wide receiver depth once this season, and with so many older receivers in the mix, there's a chance it could happen again.
Still, if including him in a deal is the difference between securing a solid player or not, then they have to do it because it's not clear if Watkins will be part of the picture going forward.
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