Statistically, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Renardo Green is on the leaderboard page for completion percentage allowed, yards per target, and finished 11th in pass breakups in 2025. For a second-year player, that’s about as good as you could ask for someone selected at the end of the second round.
But something was off this past season. Green missed a couple of games with a neck injury. He also had a hamstring injury way back in the preseason and a toe injury in October. On the field, Green was fortunate to have a couple of missed throws on plays that would have led to potential big plays.
Under Robert Saleh, Green played a lot more Cover 2 on his side of the field. It didn’t take an expert to figure out Green was not comfortable playing “cloud” coverage. There were two times this season where the Niners yanked Green off the field because he had a mental blunder on his side. The most notable one came in the playoffs. Green’s mistake led to a first down, and his being taken off the field eventually led to a touchdown.
Is Green’s time up already? ESPN went through the top 15 trade candidates this offseason, and Green was listed at No. 9, given one of the highest percentages to be traded at 80 percent:
The contract: Two more years at a total of $3.04 million, nothing guaranteed
The buzz: He is still only 25 and would have value in a trade. The Niners have a new defensive coordinator in Raheem Morris, and Green might not be a scheme fit. The 2024 second-round pick has just one interception in two NFL seasons, and he seemed to fall out of favor a bit with the coaching staff at times last season. — Graziano
The tape: Green isn’t a particularly big outside corner, but he makes up for it with quickness and aggressiveness. Double-digit pass breakups in each of his first two seasons is a testament to that. The coaching staff got frustrated with mental lapses and unnecessary aggressiveness last season, and teams will call accordingly to see if Green has run out of time in San Francisco. — Solak
Predicted chance of getting traded: 80%
Potential team fits: Cowboys, Falcons, Eagles
Trading Green, who has two years left on his rookie contract, would open yet another hole on the defense. Those are the types of contracts you want to have under the books. Nobody would confuse Green with Richard Sherman or Charvarius Ward, but he’s a B- and far from a liability.
It’s also not as if Raheem Morris fancies big cornerbacks. The Falcons started Mike Hughes, who is 5’10”, 190 pounds, in the previous two seasons opposite A.J. Terrell. But if Morris doesn’t feel like Green is his style of cornerback, or if Kyle Shanahan has had enough of the in-game brain farts from Green, then maybe it is time to move on.
The question I would ask is what Green’s value is, and why would the Niners expect anything higher than a third-round pick? It’s a premium position, so you could possibly get an overpay. Perhaps it’s a draft day trade when a cornerback-needy team misses out on a prospect they like. But then you run the risk of needing to replace Green after free agency passes.
Creating another hole on the roster doesn’t seem like the 49ers’ way under this regime, but perhaps they have a plan in place already, which is why Green’s given an 80 percent chance to be traded. Three injuries in one season aren’t helping Green’s argument, either.
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