SANTA CLARA — As news broke that Jeff Wilson Jr. would be sent to the Miami Dolphins an hour ahead of Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, the 49ers’ locker room was nearly empty.
Players had already worked out in the morning and headed for their bye week, with a handful headed to an optional meeting to hear 49ers legend Steve Young talk about the venture-capital business.
When cornerback Deommodore Lenoir emerged from the showers and looked at a phone displaying news of Wilson’s trade, Lenoir’s eyes widened and he replied: “It’s crazy.”
Crazy in that Wilson was so beloved in that locker room, having arrived as a 2018 undrafted rookie and stepping into the mix when need to churn out 1,733 yards in 45 career games. Wilson was not seen in the 49ers’ locker room Tuesday. Lenoir’s locker was two down from Wilson, and asked if he was sad about news of the trade, Lenoir replied simply: “For sure.”
The 49ers, a league source confirmed, fetched a 2023 fifth-round draft pick from the Dolphins, who, this past offseason, added ex-49ers starter Raheem Mostert as their starting running back.
Thing is, 12 days ago, the 49ers beat the trade deadline and added a running back of their own: Christian McCaffrey, who produced three touchdowns (passing, receiving, rushing) in Sunday’s 31-14 win at the Los Angeles Rams. McCaffrey, in the Oct. 20 deal with the Carolina Panthers, cost them four draft picks — second-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2023 and a fifth-rounder in 2024.
Season-opening starter Elijah Mitchell is projected to return after the bye week, after spending two months recovering from a sprained knee. Also in the crowded backfield are rookies Ty Davis-Price and Jordan Mason, not to mention Tevin Coleman on the practice squad, as well as the option of Deebo Samuel, an All-Pro receiver last year who missed Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said earlier today that a trade was unlikely.
“I mean, we love Jeff Wilson, and I would hate to lose him,” Shanahan said on KNBR 680-AM. “You always listen to stuff if you think it could help your team, and if it’s a great situation for him, but that stuff rarely happens.
“Look at some of these people available in this league and they still don’t get traded. We’ll see if anything happens today but I don’t think it will.”
Coached by former 49ers coordinator Mike McDaniel, Miami ranked 28th in the NFL in rushing at 88.1 yards per game. Mostert is their leading rusher with 452 yards (101 carries), followed by ex-Arizona Cardinals rusher Edmonds (120 yards).
The Dolphins, who visit the 49ers on Dec. 4, made arguably a bigger move for themselves earlier Tuesday by acquiring Denver Broncos outside linebacker Bradley Chubb for a 2023 first-round pick, which Miami acquired from San Francisco in the package the 49ers sent out in 2021 for the No. 3 pick used on Trey Lance.
This season, Wilson is averaging 5.1 yards per carry, on 92 runs for 468 yards. He had a season-low four carries for 14 yards, plus two receptions for 21 yards, in Sunday’s win.
In his career, Wilson has averaged 4.4 yards per carry (390 carries, 1,733 yards), and he had 45 receptions for 387 yards and four touchdowns, including a game-winner in 2019 against Arizona.
Wilson, who turns 27 on Nov. 16, returned to the 49ers this season on a one-year, $1.085 million contract, so he was a pending free agent on a 49ers team that is invested more in McCaffrey (albeit at $12 million each of the next three seasons) and Mitchell, last year’s leading rusher.
As for the fifth-round spot the 49ers retrieved for Wilson, that round has been a sweet spot under this regime, producing starters in George Kittle (2017) and Dre Greenlaw (2019), as well as promising cornerback Sam Womack III (2022).
The 49ers, under general manager John Lynch, have been more in the import than export business when it comes to trades, and the only player they’ve shipped out at the deadline was linebacker Kwon Alexander in 2020, also for a fifth-round pick, to the New Orleans Saints.
NOTES
Defensive tackles Arik Armstead (foot, ankle) and Javon Kinlaw (knee) both are encouraged by their rehabilitation efforts and expect to return this season, though neither offered a specific timeline. Armstead has missed five of the past six games, and while he deals with plantar fasciitis in one foot, he’s been hindered by an ankle injury to his other leg. Kinlaw got shut down after the first three games because of swelling in his surgically repaired knee, and he must sit out at least one more game, having gone on injured reserve Oct. 15.
“I just hit a year from my surgery so some things were expected. I’ve got to learn how to manage it well, and I’ve learned a lot being down these weeks,” Kinlaw said. “… I just want to be out there so bad.
“I’m trying to do whatever I can to get back there and have some fun with those guys,” Kinlaw added. “It looks like they’re having fun at a level I haven’t been a part of, yet, even the run last year. All the fun times and the bad, it’s like I’m never a part of anything. I’m just trying to get out there to be part of something.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com