ESPN analyst says 49ers should go all-in on rebuild by trading away All-Pro star

The San Francisco 49ers are easily seen as a big loser from the early days of 2025 free agency, with an exodus of notable players and additions to this point not exactly being huge needle movers. General manager John Lynch forecasted a reset/recalibration/rebuild, with an apparent directive from CEO Jed York to reduce cash output and the proverbial "Super Bowl window" of the last handful of years closed after going 6-11 last season.

It seems no potential move is off limits for San Francisco. Trading Deebo Samuel left behind over $31 million in dead money, and if Brandon Aiyuk were also traded, it would be along a similar line there.

On Wednesday morning's edition of Get Up, ESPN analyst Ryan Clark suggested the Niners go all the way in on a rebuild.

"I would absolutely trade Christian McCaffrey, and I would try to get as much as I could possibly get for him", Clark said. "When you look at what Kyle Shanahan has been able to do, it's run the football. And I know we thought last year, they missed some of things with the versatility of Christian McCaffrey. But when you trade Juszczyk, you let some of that versatility go. And so why not change your entire philosophy from thinking about Christian McCaffrey as this Swiss Army Knife... if you're going to rebuild, rebuild completely."

Leaving aside the general wildness of Clark's take, let's get down to the brass tacks of the 49ers possibly trading McCaffrey.

Could the 49ers realistically trade Christian McCaffrey?

McCaffrey played just four games last season. An Achilles issue delayed his season debut until Week 10, then a knee injury in Week 13 ended his season early. He had previously stayed healthy since the 49ers acquired him from the Carolina Panthers in the middle of the 2022 season, but over his last two seasons in Carolina (2020 and 2021) he played a total of just 10 games. He will also turn 29 years old in June, so the durability concerns are not going away.

Last offseason, coming off a Super Bowl appearance and him winning NFL Offensive Player of the Year, the 49ers gave McCaffrey a two-year, $38 million contract extension. That move also essentially committed them to him through 2026, with dead money and actually losing cap space with a pre-June 1 trade (h/t to Over The Cap). However, a post-June 1 trade is far more palatable from a cap -savings and dead-money perspective.


A portion of McCaffrey's $14.245 million option bonus for this year was guaranteed at signing ($8.5 million, according to Spotrac and Pro Football Talk), with the full payout due on April 1. A cash payout like that is the kind of thing the Niners are trying to avoid now.

It feels like there's a less than one-percent chance the 49ers would trade McCaffrey, but he would theoretically have a market. If the dreaded "r" word is the plan, a reasonable case can be made to just go all the way with nothing totally off limits.

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