The San Francisco 49ers got some much-needed running back help on Friday by swinging a trade for Brian Robinson Jr.
It's been well-known for a while now that the San Francisco 49ers have already been bitten by the injury bug, and it's impacted their running back room most of all. The Niners sport the easiest schedule in the NFL this year and are good enough to get back into the playoffs.
It would not be wise not to at least attempt to make a push in 2025, and on Friday, the front office swung a trade for Brian Robinson Jr., a running back from the Washington Commanders. This trade does give the Niners a great one-two punch alongside Christian McCaffrey, but how does this move impact CMC for the future?
How does this trade impact Christian McCaffrey for the short-term and long-term?
Here are the details of the trade from Adam Schefter of ESPN:
Trade: Commanders are trading RB Brian Robinson to the 49ers in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/bqYjKoxgl5
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 22, 2025
Short-term impact
McCaffrey is now entering his age-29 season and is coming off of a season where he played in just four games due to injury. However, in the 2022 and 2023 NFL Seasons, McCaffrey was able to play in 33 regular season games.
Some have wondered if this is the year that the wheels begin to fall off. McCaffrey has touched the football on offense 1,871 times in his career and is simply a workhorse, but that won't last forever.
The obvious short-term impact is that the Niners will likely give Robinson a share of the carries alongside McCaffrey, so the veteran RB previously of the Carolina Panthers won't have to carry a heavy workload in 2025. This will not only make it more likely that he stays healthy for an entire season, but it could also maximize the juice he has left.
Long-term impact
Robinson is entering his age-26 season in the NFL and is absolutely someone the 49ers could keep around in the RB room for the long-term. He's carried the ball an average of 236 times across a 17-game season in his NFL career, so he does have a workhorse type of profile at the position.
This also does give the 49ers an easy "out" on the 2023 Offensive Player of the Year. They could cut him next offseason if he endures another year of injury and could use some of those cap savings to prioritize keeping the RB room more youthful by retaining Robinson on a contract extension.
While Robinson is not some elite running back, he's a productive player who gives San Francisco both short- and long-term solutions.