The NFL trade deadline is almost here, and the buzz is starting to get a little weird as it pertains to the San Francisco 49ers. Mike Florio and Chris Simms of Pro Football Talk speculated about whether the Niners might make a trade for Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor.
San Francisco already swung a trade with Indy for DeForest Buckner, but the Colts seem to be open for business, so they might make several more trades ahead of the Nov. 10 deadline.
Apparently, league sources have been asking Simms about the possibility of the Niners going after Taylor, given the fact Simms is friends with head coach Kyle Shanahan, but it doesn't seem to be based on any real reporting indicating the 49ers are interested in Taylor.
This speculation is a bit of a head scratcher because the Niners already have a great running back in Christian McCaffrey. He’s dealing with a hamstring injury, but the expectation is he will be able to play in Week 9 against the Las Vegas Raiders, and he’s still playing at a high level.
San Francisco has done a better job managing this workload this season, and rookie running back Kaelon Black has helped take some of the load off McCaffrey’s plate. But he is still a potent threat both as a rusher and a pass-catcher.
But, adding Taylor into the mix could potentially work.
Would a Jonathan Taylor trade actually work for 49ers?
What if instead of trading for a wide receiver, the 49ers added Taylor and then started using McCaffrey more like a slot receiver? He’s talented enough to do it, and the Niners already have him line up and catch passes as a receiver sometimes, so he is more than capable of taking on a new role.
Obviously, they would still use him as a rusher, too, and could have a two-headed dragon in the backfield, which would be really difficult for opponents to game plan for.
Taylor is a bit of a dual threat in his own right. This season, he has 148 rushing attempts for 610 yards and eight touchdowns. He also has 21 receptions for 202 yards.
The Colts reportedly want a package similar to what the Carolina Panthers got from San Francisco for McCaffrey, which included a second-, third-, fourth-, and a fifth-round pick. Are the 49ers prepared to part with that much draft capital, which would essentially make Taylor McCaffrey's successor, since McCaffrey will be a free agent after the 2027 season, while Taylor is under contract through 2028 and is three years younger than CMC?
It would obviously be more conventional for the Niners to trade for a receiver, which would give them some insurance for Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel, who are both currently banged up.
But if the 49ers want to get creative and swing a trade that would send major shockwaves through the NFL, then acquiring Taylor would do that and might just be crazy enough to work.
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