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Can the 49ers Trade Christian McCaffrey and Get Better?

The 49ers could trade Christian McCaffrey right now probably for a package that includes a first-round pick.
Grant Cohn|
Can the 49ers Trade Christian McCaffrey and Get Better?
Can the 49ers Trade Christian McCaffrey and Get Better?

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers have the second-most expensive backfield in the NFL behind the Saints.

The Saints spend big money on running backs because they have a mediocre quarterback -- Derek Carr. Just like the 49ers used to have a mediocre quarterback -- Jimmy Garoppolo. That's why the 49ers traded for Christian McCaffrey in the first place -- to work around Garoppolo's limitations.

When you have a mediocre quarterback, it makes sense to invest heavily in the run game and optimize that area of the offense, because the mediocre quarterback always will hold back the passing game no matter how many weapons he has and how good his pass protection is.

Brock Purdy is not a mediocre quarterback.

He's a Pro Bowl quarterback, an MVP candidate. A much, much better player than Garoppolo. Which means Purdy doesn't need one of the most expensive backfields in the NFL. He needs what any top-level quarterback benefits from: A good offensive line and receivers who get open.

The 49ers could trade Christian McCaffrey right now probably for a package that includes a first-round pick -- he just won the Offensive Player of the Year Award. And the 49ers still would have a great running game that features Elijah Mitchell, Jordan Mason and Deebo Samuel.

And with that first-round pick the 49ers acquire for McCaffrey, they could pick an offensive lineman or a tight end and improve their passing game. Because now that they have a Pro Bowl quarterback for the first time since Jeff Garcia, it's time to optimize the passing game. That's how teams win Super Bowls.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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