49ers Sign Chris Conley

It's possible the 49ers will revive Conley's career. But even if they don't and he gets cut, now we know the 49ers are in the market for a wide receiver.
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This is an intriguing move.

The 49ers have signed veteran wide receiver Chris Conley to a one-year deal, according to reports. Conley is 30-years old and caught just four passes in 7 games with the Tennessee Titans last season, but has started 63 games in his career, including 10 in 2021, plus he's 6-foot-2 and he runs a 4.35.

It's possible the 49ers will revive Conley's career. But even if they don't and he gets cut, now we know the 49ers are in the market for a wide receiver, one who's tall, fast and makes long catches near the sideline. A split end.

The 49ers starting split end currently is Brandon Aiyuk, who's a very good player. This offseason, he's eligible for a contract extension, but it doesn't appear he'll get it, because they gave fellow wide receiver Deebo Samuel a huge contract extension last year and they might not think they can afford two high-priced wide receivers.

In addition, Aiyuk seems frustrated with his role on the team. He recently tweeted that he's the fourth option in a run-first offense. Perhaps he'd like to be the first option on a pass-first team.

Finally, the 49ers have no first- or second-round pick this year. If they want one, they might have to trade Aiyuk, who probably is worth a late first-round pick. Theoretically, the 49ers could trade Aiyuk to the New York Giants, who reportedly want Aiyuk and own pick No. 25 in Round 1. Then the 49ers coud let Conley compete with second-year wide receiver Danny Gray for a starting job. Or the 49ers could draft another wide receiver.

This is a position to monitor.


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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.