Former San Francisco 49ers starting cornerback Tramaine Brock is leaving the NFC West in a trade from the Seattle Seahawks to the Minnesota Vikings, according to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network. The compensation is reported to be a seventh-round pick, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.
This is notable, of course, because Brock was a quality player for much of his tenure with the 49ers and, of course, because it’s another trade for what has been a huge day for the NFC West rival Seahawks. They also landed Sheldon Richardson from the New York Jets on Friday, and obviously feel good about landing a draft pick for someone they might have cut in Brock.
But Brock will go to the Vikings where he should be a starter. His career trajectory with the 49ers was a weird one. Many were angered when he made the team’s official roster under Mike Singletary, but he developed into a quality starter over the years.
He struggled occasionally with faster targets occasionally, but started all 16 games for the 49ers in 2016, the first time in his career he’d done that. He was released on April 7 following a domestic violence arrest.
Those charges were dismissed, and Brock’s agent said that the 49ers lied about contacting him after those charges were dismissed. He wound up signing with the Seahawks, who have now traded him to the Vikings.
It’s worth noting that the woman involved in the domestic violence incident declined to cooperate with the DA’s office, which doesn’t mean Brock is innocent, but legally, he’s in the clear and teams have shown interest, so take that for what you will.