The San Francisco 49ers are hurting at wide receiver, and Courtland Sutton could be the remedy.
On Sunday, Deebo Samuel was out due to pneumonia. Then, during the beatdown at the hands of the Chiefs, San Francisco lost Brandon Aiyuk for the season. Aiyuk tore his ACL and MCL, in yet another injury to the 49ers, headlined by Christian McCaffrey being out all year.
Will the 49ers sit idly by and watch this season go down the tubes? Or could they try to trade for Sutton again?
San Francisco 49ers tried to trade for Courtland Sutton in preseason, could they again?
Before the season kicked off, the 49ers were one of the Super Bowl favorites from the NFC. Then, McCaffrey injured his achilles. That was the first major blow.
Since then, they’ve lost safety Talanoa Hufanga, placekicker Matthew Wright, backup running back Elijah Mitchell, and now Aiyuk to the Injured Reserve. Plus, Dre Greenlaw has been on the PUP list as of late.
And the Niners have fallen off. At 3-4, they’re third in the NFC West and currently out of the playoff picture.
Meanwhile, the Broncos were expected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL in the preseason. They’ve surprised basically everyone and are riding high at 4-3 right now. If the playoffs started today, Denver would be in.
Before the season kicked off, the San Francisco 49ers kicked the tires on a Courtland Sutton trade. Again, they were contenders, and the Broncos were pretenders.
The 49ers only were willing to trade Brandon Aiyuk if they could get a top-flight WR to replace him. They offered a third-round pick to Denver for Courtland Sutton, and then would’ve dealt Aiyuk to the Steelers, but the Broncos declined the offer.
So, he stays in SF.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) August 29, 2024
As it sits today, would the Niners still want to reach out to the Broncos about a trade?
It’s certainly possible. But would the Broncos be willing to let their best receiver go for a second or third-round draft pick while in the heat of playoff contention?
Sutton’s name has come up in multiple trade discussions dating back to last year at this time. He wasn’t shipped off then, nor was he during the NFL Draft, or the offseason. So, it doesn’t seem likely he would be now. But, it’s not out of the question.
Will the Niners push to rally and make a splash trade?
Could the 49ers rally?
Their Super Bowl window is closing, but it’s not closed yet.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan announced on Tuesday that McCaffrey should be ready to play after their Week 9 bye. That’d be a major boost to team performance and morale.
And maybe they’d be willing to make a splash trade for a starting receiver like Sutton, too.
For the 49ers, trading for Sutton makes sense. They need receivers badly, especially ones who can use their big frame to box out defenders and protect Brock Purdy from throwing costly interceptions. Jauan Jennings has played a bit of that role for the team this year, but he missed last week with, you guessed it, an injury. He was listed as questionable against the Chiefs and ended up not playing. His status for Week 8 is still up in the air, too.
It’s also worth noting that Jennings is off to a solid start to this season, but he’s never been a starting receiver carrying a large load of the targets, like Sutton has.
For the Broncos, the trade makes some sense. Dollars and cents, that is. He’s due $20.1 million in 2025, and trading Courtland Sutton to the San Francisco 49ers would give the Broncos north of $90 million in cap space next year. Plus, Sean Payton has rebuilt the team’s receiver room with young talent like Troy Franklin, Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Devaughn Vele.
Speaking of wide receiver trades, the LA Rams are fielding offers for Cooper Kupp, but it seems unlikely that they’d trade him in-division to the 49ers.
The 49ers face the also struggling Cowboys (3-3) on Sunday Night Football, while the Broncos take on the terrible Panthers (1-5) at 2:25 p.m. MDT this Sunday in Denver.