John Kosko over at Pro Football Focus might've riled some fans up across the league with a recent post that circled every team's biggest trade asset heading deeper into the 2026 offseason.
For the San Francisco 49ers, his pick was All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey.
At first glance, it's easy to dismiss such a suggestion. But, in Kosko's defense, he admitted the likelihood of the Niners moving one of their best offensive weapons was next to nothing.
The analyst's perspective does make some sense, however:
"It is highly unlikely the 49ers will move on from McCaffrey, but given multiple defensive needs and an aging offensive line, exploring a trade could be worth considering. McCaffrey remains one of the most dynamic backs in the NFL, but his career has been impacted by injuries, and he is entering his age-30 season — a point at which decline often begins for running backs.
Moving him now could allow San Francisco to maximize value while addressing key roster needs."
True, McCaffrey's own San Francisco tenure has been beset by injuries, and it's not hard to look at 2026 as the alternate-kind of year in contrast to ones in which he performed at award-winning levels.
In 2023, when CMC managed 2,023 all-purpose yards, he received the Offensive Player of the Year award, yet he was limited to just four games the following year because of a myriad of injuries. Then, of course, McCaffrey's bounce-back 2025 efforts resulted in a Comeback Player of the Year award.
Should that trend continue, 2026 could be a tough year for the dual-threat tailback. And age will be a factor, too.
Except that's not enough a reason to consider him a trade candidate in the slightest.
There's 1 easy reason why 49ers would never trade Christian McCaffrey
Forget the fact McCaffrey receives an exorbitant dose of touches in head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense for a moment (an NFL-high 413 in 2025).
If the 49ers ended up trading McCaffrey, they'd be on the hook for $31.6 million in dead cap, according to Over the Cap, and it'd actually result in a net loss of $20.8 million in cap space. Even if the Niners waited until after June 1 to pull off a trade, it'd still result in just $1.95 million in cap savings against $8.9 million in dead money.
Plus, McCaffrey just received a near-$5 million option bonus on March 15, which is money San Francisco can no longer get back.
Unless the 49ers opted to wholly gut the roster en route to an all-out rebuild, which doesn't seem anywhere close to being likely, moving McCaffrey via a trade makes almost zero sense.
Particularly from the financial standpoint.