49ers

Garrett Wilson to the 49ers? It's Just the Internet Talking.

The Wilson noise is all smoke so far, Buckner was probably the big swing, and Seattle just went out and got Quenton Nelson.

Bay Area Sports Blog Staff · 49ers
Seahawks Lumen Field Handoff, San Francisco 49ers

My cousin sent me a Garrett Wilson edit in a red and gold jersey at 6:40 this morning. I hadn't had coffee. I almost believed it.

I'm going to be the buzzkill in the group chat, because somebody has to. Garrett Wilson isn't coming to Santa Clara. Not this week, probably not this year. Everything I've seen is the internet doing what the internet does in the last stretch before the deadline, which is take one mock trade and run it through every account with a 49ers logo in the bio until it feels real.

Where the Wilson thing came from

Some of it's fair.

PFF floated us as the best landing spot if the Jets ever decide to move him. A Bleacher Report piece threw out a first and a fourth as the price. Kay Adams posted something cryptic and the whole timeline lost its mind for an afternoon. Over in New York, a WFAN host is out there saying the Jets should at least listen if a first round pick is on the table, and the Jets are getting pressure to start a real rebuild.

Now look at what's actually been said by the guy himself. Wilson got asked about it and said no, that he sees the stuff on social media too, and that he's big on controlling what he can control. He sounds like a guy shrugging it off.

And the money. He's on a four year, $130 million deal, which works out to about $32.5 million a year. The 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year doesn't get moved for a mock draft package. If New York ever does it, they'll want more than a first, and John Lynch has already made his move for this deadline.

So no. I'm not refreshing for this one. I'm refreshing out of habit, which is different.

Buckner was the swing

DeForest Buckner is a 49er again. A 2027 fourth to Indianapolis, made official Wednesday, Jack Jones cut to open the spot. We're taking on the roughly $7.9 million left on his deal, and he's a free agent after the season, so it's a rental with a soul attached. Ninety nine back where he started.

That feels like the big one to me. Lynch went and got the piece the defensive line needed, paid almost nothing in picks, and didn't blow up the cap to do it. Taking on a $32.5 million receiver a couple days later would be a totally different kind of week. I just don't see it.

Could I be wrong? Sure. This front office has surprised me before, and I've written "nothing's happening" on a Tuesday and eaten it on a Thursday. You never really know with Lynch and Shanahan until the deadline actually passes. My honest read is Buckner was the last big one, and anything else is a depth corner or a body on special teams.

I'd take a corner. I've said that already. I'll keep saying it.

Meanwhile, up in Seattle

The trade that actually happened in the division is the one that bugs me.

Seattle got Quenton Nelson. Same Tuesday the Colts sent us Buckner, they sent Nelson north for a 2027 third and a 2028 fifth, and the Seahawks waived Christian Haynes to make room. Indianapolis is 2 and 5, they fired Chris Ballard the week before, and they're clearly tearing it down to the studs. Two of their best players went out the door in one afternoon.

Nelson is 30. Sixth overall pick in 2018, eight straight Pro Bowls, three straight first team All Pro nods to start his career. He's in the last year of a four year, $80 million extension, so there's no promise he stays past January. He'll play left guard, which is all he's ever played, and Grey Zabel slides over to right guard.

And Seattle needed it. They've given up 10 sacks of Sam Darnold across their last two losses. They're 4 and 3 after beating the Chiefs on Sunday, sitting outside the playoff picture, and looking up at us in the West.

I sat in my car outside Safeway when that alert hit and actually said "oh, come on" out loud. A third and a fifth for a guy like that. That's a good trade for them and I hate typing that sentence.

What it means for us

We already beat them once, 32 to 29 at Lumen Field on October 11. That one still lives in my chest. There's another one coming, and now there's an eight time Pro Bowler standing in front of Darnold when Buckner comes up the middle.

Does Nelson fix everything wrong with that line? No. One guard is one guard. It does make that second game a lot less fun to imagine, and it tells you Seattle isn't waving the white flag on the season. Nelson's first shot at it is Monday night against the Bears at home.

I'm standing in the kitchen, still a little annoyed about my cousin's edit.

Wilson is a rumor. Buckner is real. Nelson is real, and he plays for the wrong team. I'll take two out of three, and I'll keep my phone face down until the deadline's gone.

The Buckner trade and what it changes up front is in this column, and the roster move that made room for him is right here. The first Seattle game is in the 32 to 29 recap. The full picture is on the schedule hub and the depth chart, and everything else lives on the 49ers hub.

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