The San Francisco 49ers have already added a Pro Bowl skill-position player to the mix in recent weeks, acquiring running back Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers in a blockbuster trade.
Said deal has already paid off with McCaffrey tallying three total touchdowns in Sunday’s blowout win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Could San Francisco double down as the team looks to contend for a Super Bowl title down the stretch?
In speaking to the media on Tuesday following the NFL trade deadline, head coach Kyle Shanahan had an interesting comment about free-agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
“We’re open to discussions with everybody. We look into everything. You don’t have to worry about the trade deadline with him, because he’s out there, and he’s available. I’ve always been a fan of Odell, like I feel like most people are. He’s that good of a player.”
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan on Odell Beckham Jr.
This shouldn’t be considered too much of a surprise. Earlier on Tuesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter mentioned the 49ers as a potential landing spot for the free-agent wide receiver.
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Odell Beckham Jr. to the San Francisco 49ers makes perfect sense
There’s several backdrops to this. When Beckham Jr. was traded from the New York Giants to the Cleveland Browns back in 2019, San Francisco was among the teams most interested in the receiver.
In fact, general manager John Lynch and Co. thought they had a deal in place to acquire the three-time Pro Bowler from New York. As the story goes, then-Giants general manager David Gettleman did not want to trade OBJ to a conference rival. Rather, he shipped him off to Cleveland for a deal that was lesser than what San Francisco offered up.
This fits in with Shanahan’s comments about always being a fan of Beckham Jr.
From an on-field standpoint, Shanahan did note that he was happy with the 49ers’ current group of wide receivers. That might not be 100% true given that San Francisco recently worked out several free agents, including Adam Humphries. To say that Beckham would be a better option than that group would be an understatement.
Beckham, 29, remains a free agent primarily because he suffered a torn ACL late last season. He’s expected to return to the field later this month.
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In addition to the 49ers, OBJ has been linked to his former Los Angeles Rams squad as well as the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants recently.
- Odell Beckham Jr. stats (2021): 44 receptions, 537 yards, 5 TD, 53.7% catch rate
The former first-round pick out of LSU struggled in his season-plus with the Browns after being acquired from New York. However, he did pick it up big time en route to helping Los Angeles to the Super Bowl title a season ago after being picked up following his release from the Browns.
The San Francisco 49ers currently have a nice group of skill-position players in that of the aforementioned McCaffrey joining wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk as well as star tight end George Kittle.
With that said, adding Beckham to the mix would make this offense a near unstoppable force. Having already gone all in by acquiring McCaffrey, kicking the tires on OBJ seems to make a ton of sense. Whether that comes to fruition depends on a few factors.
There’s certainly going to be a market for Beckham’s services. He’s also said to be demanding a deal similar to the five-year, $57.5 million contract Michael Gallup received from the Dallas Cowboys this past offseason. This could prove to be too rich for the 49ers’ blood should other teams meet OBJ’s asking price.