Joe Staley wants to stay with 49ers, not worried about trade talks

San Francisco 49ers left tackle Joe Staley has been a popular topic in trade discussions in recent weeks. We recently heard from Kyle Shanahan about Staley’s value, but on Thursday, we heard from the player himself.

“I always wanted to play for the 49ers,” Staley said. “And my thoughts don’t change now.”

Staley said that he wants to retire with the 49ers and not join any other team. He was asked on Thursday if he ever talked to the 49ers when trade rumors have surfaced in previous years, and he said that he didn’t feel like he needed to.

“Because they know I want to be here and I have to do my job on the field,” Staley said. “What I’m concerned with is we’re coming off a game where we didn’t do well in pass protection. We have a hell of a challenge this week against the Eagles. My job is to do better in that respect.”

I thought Staley looked good blocking for the first couple games of the season, but over the past two, he’s definitely struggled. Staley has been beaten in more one-on-one situations than any season I can recall, and when mistakes are made on the line, they seem to be made between himself and left guard Laken Tomlinson.

On Wednesday, Shanahan said that the 49ers would listen to offers on any player due to the nature of the business.

“You’ve got to always try to think what’s going to help your team and make your team better,” Shanahan said. “To lose a guy like Joe Staley, that wouldn’t be something I’d be excited about, so that’d have to take a whole lot.”

Personally, I expect Staley will bounce back and his play will clean up. He doesn’t look washed up or completely out of it, he’s just making small mistakes here and there. The 49ers need him to be better, trade talks or not.