The San Francisco 49ers tried to acquire Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain at the trade deadline back in October, but they were rebuffed.
Could they revisit those trade talks this offseason?
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox thinks so, suggesting that the 49ers try and trade for Surtain in an attempt to bolster their secondary.
But is swinging a deal for Surtain feasible?
Financially, yes. Well, at least for 2024.
San Francisco has a minuscule $570,837 in cap room (per Spotrac), so you wouldn’t think a superstar like Surtain would make sense for the club.
However, Surtain is still on his rookie deal and is slated to earn just $1.1 million next season, so the Niners wouldn’t take a big hit by adding him.
Of course, the 49ers would then have to worry about the future, as Surtain’s fifth-year option in 2025 would be expensive, and a contract extension may not be possible due to all of the money San Francisco will owe to other players up and down the roster.
Heck, the whole reason why Brandon Aiyuk’s future in the Bay is in question is because of the fact that the Niners may not be able to afford to pay him.
But if the 49ers are just looking at 2024 and aren’t looking toward the future at all, acquiring Surtain would make a whole lot of sense after Patrick Mahomes picked apart the team’s defensive backfield late in its Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Now, the question is whether or not San Francisco would have the goods to land Surtain.
The former No. 3 overall pick is one of the best cornerbacks in football, so the Niners would have to surrender multiple draft choices in order to secure a deal for him.
The problem is that the 49ers pick 31st in this spring’s NFL Draft, which may not be enough of a primary piece to entice the Broncos.
We’ll see if San Francisco calls up Denver again to inquire about Patrick Surtain II’s availability. Whether or not the Broncos would seriously entertain the Niners is another discussion.
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