The San Francisco 49ers still have a very uncertain situation at wide receiver. With big names like Amari Cooper still available, it is tempting to think about San Francisco making a move but reporter Matt Maiocco threw cold water on that notion.
Maiocco, a reporter for NBC Sports Bay Area, appeared on Guy Haberman's podcast and was asked about the wide receiver situation:
Matt Maiocco doesn’t believe the 49ers will look to sign or trade for a receiver:
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) August 19, 2025
“I think they get by with what they have. Because if you bring in a guy like Amari Cooper, you’re gonna have to pay whatever Amari wants to get paid to sign him. For the final 10 games of the year,… pic.twitter.com/gOvYrN80Ri
He clearly thinks the Niners are not going to make a big splashy move, saying, "I think they get by with what they have. Because if you bring in a guy like Amari Cooper, you’re gonna have to pay whatever Amari wants to get paid to sign him."
San Francisco's whole modus operandi this offseason was to try to get younger and cheaper. The 49ers retained most of their key star players with extensions but did not go out and bring in any big names in free agency.
To sign someone like Cooper this late in the process would undercut that approach and would not make much sense. If the Niners were going to make a move like this, they already would have done it since the wide receiver situation has been pretty dire for awhile now.
The Niners could still swing a trade for a wide receiver, but they may just decide to rely on some of the fringe veteran options they have like Robbie Chosen, who shined in the preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Maiocco also brought up a good point that San Francisco would have to find a way to work Cooper in once the team is potentially fully healthy at wide receiver. Brandon Aiyuk could be back around Week 6, and Demarcus Robinson will probably only miss the first three games due to suspension.
If the 49ers can get to a point where their top four healthy receivers are Jauan Jennings, Aiyuk, Ricky Pearsall, and Robinson, that is not a bad place to be. It is not clear where Cooper would fit in that picture.
The main issue is trying to piece things together until they reach that point which may be difficult. Rookie wide receiver Jordan Watkins is already banged up, so they are running out of options.
Barring something unforeseen, it seems highly unlikely the 49ers would make a big swing for someone like Cooper.
They are just going to have to patch things together until, hopefully, they can get all their receivers back on the field.