The 49ers’ offseason went a little differently than many expected it to go. Their failure to acquire either Antonio Brown or Odell Beckham Jr. in the trade market landed at No. 6 on ESPN’s list of the seven biggest offseason whiffs. It’s hard to pin that as a miss by San Francisco considering the moves they did make to improve their receiving corps.
An unusually active trade market surrounding two of the NFL’s elite receivers, Brown and Beckham, and the 49ers’ need at receiver made them an understandably likely candidate to pull the trigger on acquiring one of those players. Operating with one of the league’s premier receivers has worked out well for 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who worked with Andre Johnson and Julio Jones with tremendous success as an offensive coordinator.
San Francisco’s failure to acquire those players wasn’t a huge missed opportunity. It wound up looking more like a team sticking with their priorities.
General manager John Lynch said Brown was never really an option for the 49ers given his turbulent exit from Pittsburgh following a tumultuous offseason. He could’ve been had for a couple of mid-round picks, and eventually went to the Raiders for a third and a fifth-round selection.
The 49ers didn’t whiff on Brown. They didn’t even offer. Lynch and Shanahan have made it clear how important team culture is for their team, and Brown’s final weeks as a Steeler made him undesirable for San Francisco, even if he is still one of the games five best receivers.
Beckham is a little bit of a different story. They didn’t whiff, but they did have to check their swing. Reports indicated the 49ers were very much in on trade talks for Beckham, but it would’ve required parting with the No. 2 overall pick without receiving a first-round selection in return. Had the Giants offered Beckham and the No. 6 pick, chances are he winds up on the 49ers.
The front office had a different prioritization of team needs though. Acquiring another pass rusher to pair with Dee Ford was a bigger necessity than finding an elite receiver.
Instead, they went to the wide receiver well twice in Rounds 2 and 3 in order to restock the talent at that position. Shanahan is more than capable of orchestrating a successful offense without the help of a top-five receiver.
Shoring up the edge rush was the most important thing to the 49ers this offseason. Their acquisition of pass catchers in the draft showed how high that was on the priority list as well, but it wasn’t worth potentially fracturing the locker room or sacrificing the draft’s top edge rusher to do it. San Francisco didn’t “whiff” on acquiring one of the top available receivers – they just chose not to swing.
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