San Francisco 49ers Trading Quarterback?
Are the San Francisco 49ers trading their quarterback?
Fresh off a Super Bowl trip, the Niners would no doubt like to keep their team as intact as possible.
Although they ultimately came up short against the Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco is still looked like a squad that could compete for a title for many year to come.
Because of how young the 49ers’ key talent is, them aging and rendering the team’s playing style ineffective is not really a threat. What is a threat, however, is the financial reality that all successful franchises in the league face.
Heading into next year, San Francisco has roughly $14 million cap space to work with.
That puts the Niners in the bottom half of the NFL in that regard.
Furthermore, the team also has just one selection in the upcoming NFL Draft. That means the 49ers’ options when it comes to improving the roster or replacing lost pieces are very limited.
Recently, SB Nation NFL insider Kyle Posey offered up an intriguing suggestion to team general manager John Lynch: trade away backup quarterback Nick Mullens.
jimmy g: good enough, for now https://t.co/GTDzdb6zE8
— KP 🏁 (@KP_Show) February 7, 2020
Because Mullens is an exclusive rights free agent, only San Francisco can negotiate with him on a new deal. That places the team in a distinct advantageous position.
The 24-year-old Mullens is talented, and could provide a team lacking quarterback depth some much-needed support.
Presuming someone steps up to the plate and offers the Niners a fourth or fifth round selection for him, it is hard to see a scenario where Lynch walks away from that deal.
Along those same lines, given how many teams in the NFL presently need quarterbacking support – it is equally difficult to see a scenario where someone does not step up to the plate with an offer like that.
Mullens is currently coming off a two-year deal that he signed back in 2018 for slightly more than $1 million. Although his next deal will obviously be for more money, it is unlikely to be much more.
While Mullens did not see much action this past year, he was a stand-in for starter Jimmy Garoppolo in 2018 when he got hurt.
In that span, Mullens amassed 2,277 yards, 13 scores and 10 picks with a 90.8 passing rating. He did all that while going 176-274 on his attempts.
Simply put, trading Mullens away makes sense for all involved. The Niners looked great last year up until the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, but they still need to make some tweaks.
Only one franchise has ever lost a Super Bowl and then subsequently come back to win it the following year, and that was the New England Patriots in 2017.
If San Francisco wants to join the Patriots in that regard, changes will need to be made to the roster in some capacity.
Trading Mullens away for some draft assets would be a great place to start.
Related: Patriots Will Replace Tom Brady With Andy Dalton
Michael Kyaw, initially a PR Manager, built up a valuable network of connections in the sports world that he then utilized to become an influential sports business reporter. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, Fansided, ESPN and the Wall Street Journal.
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