Why the 49ers Shouldn't Trade for a Wide Receiver

The knee-jerk reaction may be to acquire a wide receiver, but the 49ers must avoid that. Here is why they are fine at the position.

Oct 20, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jacob Cowing (19) makes a catch for a first down against the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

The wide receiver position has taken a significant hit for the San Francisco 49ers.

Brandon Aiyuk will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL and MCL. Deebo Samuel was hospitalized on Monday with pneumonia. Jauan Jennings has a hip injury that held him out against the Kansas City Chiefs and could remain out against the Dallas Cowboys.

It's not looking good for the 49ers at wide receiver. The panic button is right there for them to hit and they might do it. Luckily, the trade market for wide receivers has been heating up in the last week. The latest trade is DeAndre Hopkins going to the Chiefs.

All of these movements with wide receivers make it a prime chance for the 49ers to acquire one, especially with their latest injuries. Even Kyle Shanahan acknowledged on a conference call on Monday that a trade is not off the table for the 49ers.

"It makes you look into everything. We try to look into everything regardless," said Shanahan. "Obviously with more issues that came up yesterday, you still want to look into everything, but it has to do with what options are out there with stuff that we can pull off that doesn't totally hurt us, that helps us now and doesn't hurt us for the future. There's lots of decisions that go into it. So, we'll look into everything, but a lot of times that's just kind of living in hope."

The knee-jerk reaction may be to acquire a wide receiver, but the 49ers must avoid that. They shouldn't trade for a wide receiver. It is not needed. The only way acquiring a receiver makes sense for the 49ers is if they can get a real bargain on a quality player, which isn't likely to happen.

Acquiring a receiver for the 49ers isn't in their best interest. What is in their best interest is allowing their rookies to play. Ricky Pearsall is good to go and Jacob Cowing had his moments against the Chiefs. Those are the wide receivers the 49ers must lean on going forward.

They lost Aiyuk for the season, which is brutal but they didn't lose Samuel and Jennings for the season. Let the rookies show off with an increased role to shrink the hole left by Aiyuk a bit. If there is anything positive for the 49ers this season it has been their rookies.

Dominick Puni, Malik Mustapha, and Renardo Green have given the 49ers an amazing impact this year. Pearsall and Cowing have a chance to be added to that mix. The only way for them to ever make a sizable impact this year was always going to be due to injury to the starters. That reality has come to fruition, and the 49ers must see it through.

Read more: Brandon Aiyuk is Validated for Contract Holdout With the 49ers