The San Francisco 49ers currently sit at 1-4, and there is little indication things are going to improve. Colin Kaepernick could find himself in the starting lineup next Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, so that will create some semblance of optimism for some folks. At the same time, his struggles in 2015 and for some stretches in 2014 will leave plenty others pessimistic about the rest of this season.
If the 49ers do struggle in the next few weeks, at some point do they look at trading some veterans? The NFL trade deadline is November 1, which is the Tuesday falling Week 8. Jason Cole reported on Friday that he heard some teams will be keeping an eye on the 49ers heading up to the trade deadline. This is not exactly a shocking revelation considering the team is now 1-4 and scuffling along.
The 49ers have a bye in Week 8 following a road game against the Bills and a home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both are winnable games, but both are potential losses for a struggling 49ers team. They have to travel east to Buffalo for the road game. The Bucs are all over the place. They went into Atlanta and beat a Falcons team that is suddenly looking really good on offense. They followed that up with losses at Arizona, and at home against Los Angeles and Denver. None of those is a “bad loss” so to speak, so it will be interesting to see what the Bucs and 49ers do against each other.
But if the 49ers continue struggling, could we see any trades? NFL trades are fairly rare, so my guess is we don’t see much of anything. But what about someone like Antoine Bethea? He has one year left on his deal, and is 32 years old, so there’s not a lot to be gotten in return. But if the team decides to push further on the youth movement, maybe they try and deal him. Another option might be Tramaine Brock. He’s given up four touchdowns in two weeks, but he’s also made some plays. If the 49ers are prepared to go with Robinson and Ward on the edges, maybe they try and deal Brock for a late pick.