49ers could trade one of these 5 players before 2023 season starts
By Peter Panacy
49ers trade candidate No. 2: LB Marcelino McCrary-Ball
Going out on a limb a bit here, but let's go ahead and predict that second-year linebacker Marcelino McCrary-Ball has a similar preseason in 2023 as Jonas Griffith did back in 2021.
Heck, both are linebackers, too, and the 49ers' context at the position hasn't changed too much since then.
Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner still occupy the top-two spots, and they've combined to make Pro Football Focus' best team linebacker group in the NFL for the second consecutive season.
Yet there are plenty of candidates for the No. 3 strong-side (SAM) spot on the depth chart, including McCrary-Ball, Curtis Robinson, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, Dee Winters and Jalen Graham.
McCrary-Ball, who had a pleasantly shocking interception during the preseason a year ago, could telegraph another solid preseason campaign into a bigger role elsewhere via trade.