John Lynch: “We haven’t had talks at all” on trading C.J. Beathard or Nick Mullens

The San Francisco 49ers are in the midst of a battle for backup quarterback. Both Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard were locked at even with only a handful of yards and a couple of completions to distinguish each other. With backup quarterbacks in the NFL going down and some starters dealing with their own injury issues, looking to the 49ers for a trade isn’t out of the question.

Or at least it was not. We had a discussion on which quarterback you’d trade. Both have starter experience and Nick Mullens showed some promise in his few starts of 2018.

Well, that might just be us talking. Per Matt Maiocco, John Lynch says the 49ers “haven’t had talks at all” on trading either quarterback.

The 49ers might not have had talks, but that doesn’t mean they won’t. We’re in the middle of the second week of preseason. That gives other teams time to evaluate what they have before giving up that precious draft capital for a 49ers signal-caller.

Also, as Maiocco pointed out, the 49ers may just cut someone from the squad making them available without a draft pick. The benefit of a trade would be to get them a head start on the playbook and not a last-minute addition, but if you can hold onto draft picks, hold onto them.

Teams could come calling after Monday’s game when they get more looks at Beathard and Mullens, but maybe if they were wanting a backup—and some teams are—they’d have given a bit of a nibble to see what the 49ers were looking for.

Kyle asked on which quarterback you’d trade and I’m attaching a similar poll below. This is what you think happens to the third quarterback. I’m assuming Wilton Speight (QB4) does not make the roster, but stranger things have happened.