I looked at a potential trade for Matt Ryan. We looked at a potential trade for Aaron Rodgers.
Now let’s do Matthew Stafford, who’s actually available.
Stafford and Leo agreed to “break up” on Saturday. I mean, the Lions want to rebuild and Stafford doesn’t, so they agreed to send him out of town. And the 49ers should absolutely follow him.
Usually, teams do not trade franchisees with teams that play in the same conference. But, as I wrote above, the Lions are rebuilding – that’s why they gave new head coach Dan Campbell a six-year deal. Expect to lose. They are not worried that they will have to compete against Stafford in an NFC championship, because the Lions will not play soon.
Which means the Lions will trade Stafford for the highest bidder, and he could be the 49ers. He could send Detroit the 12th pick in the next draft.
But the Broncos could send Detroit a new pick for Stafford because they need a defender. And the Panthers could send Detroit the eighth option, because they also need a defender.
The 49ers could have quite a lot of competition for Stafford.
They may have to trade a first-round pick and a second-round pick in Detroit for Stafford. Or two first-round picks. Or the first two rounds and a third. Or two first-rounders and one player. Who knows? Funny things happen during bidding wars.
The 49ers should trade no more than a first-round pick for Stafford. And even the first round would be rich for a defender who will turn 33 in February and has never won a playoff game in the NFL.
I expect the 49ers to let another team overload Stafford’s services.