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Why the 49ers Inquired about Trading for Aaron Rodgers

Even if the 49ers never made a formal offer, they clearly would have had to trade the No. 3 pick -- that's their only asset.

Grant Cohn

What a fascinating plot twist.

This Wednesday, i.e. two days before the draft, the 49ers called up the Packers and tried to for Aaron Rodgers, according to the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, who said the 49ers never made a formal offer, and the Packers have zero intention of trading Rodgers.

Even if the 49ers never made a formal offer, they clearly would have had to trade the No. 3 pick -- that's their only asset. They don't have a first-round pick next year or the year after that.

So why did the 49ers think about trading the No. 3 pick two days before the draft?

Here's my theory.

From what has been reported, Kyle Shanahan traded up to the No. 3 pick with the intention of drafting Mac Jones. But Jones is wildly unpopular among 49ers fans, plus he comes with character questions, because he had a DUI in college.

This week, a video surfaced of Jones drunk at a club. Bad look. Bad timing. I'm guessing when the 49ers saw that video, they decided they won't draft Jones, and that decision upset Shanahan. I'm guessing that's why he seemed angry at the pre-draft press conference.

So instead of pivoting immediately to the next quarterback prospect, the 49ers tossed a Hail Mary to Green Bay and tried to acquire Rodgers. Hey, you can't blame the 49ers for trying.

But now they have to get real. They can't take Jones. They can't get Rodgers. So what will they do?

I say they'll draft Trey Lance.

Stay tuned.

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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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