Kyle Shanahan has revealed one player on his team’s trade block this season. The 49ers are shopping Dante Pettis, per their fourth-year coach (via The Athletic’s Matt Barrows, on Twitter).
Pettis’ stock has plummeted considerably in San Francisco since he arrived as a 2018 second-round pick. The former Washington Husky standout has no catches this season and was a healthy scratch down the stretch for the 2019 NFC champion 49ers edition. He battled a knee injury as well last season and has missed the past two games with more knee trouble.
Pettis did submit some highlights as a rookie — 27 receptions, 467 yards, five touchdown catches — but has not been seen much on offense since. Shanahan confirming Pettis’ trade-block status also occurred on the wideout’s 25th birthday. John Lynch has fielded “a number” of calls on Pettis, Shanahan said before adding that nothing is imminent, per the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch (on Twitter). Pettis interest appears to be tepid at this point.
At Washington, Pettis caught 15 touchdown passes as a junior in 2016 and was dominant as a returner. In four seasons at the Pac-12 program, Pettis returned nine punts for touchdowns — including four his senior season. The 49ers have since used two more premium draft choices on wideouts, taking Deebo Samuel in the 2019 second round and Brandon Aiyuk in this year’s first round. Both quickly passed Pettis in San Francisco’s aerial pecking order.
The 49ers made their interest in trading Marquise Goodwin public previously and found a taker for the ex-Olympian, sending him to the Eagles during draft weekend. Pettis’ rookie contract runs through the 2021 season.
Shanahan:
“Someone left the (birthday) cake out in the rain
I don’t think that I can take it
Cuz it took so long to bake it
And I’ll never have that recipe again
Oh, Nooo!”
i’ll take a 2022 6th rounder for him he trash
Does he have any value whatsoever? I think this is due diligence. He’ll be released within a week
It’s not surprising. What would be a surprise is a team giving up significant compensation for him. Pettis has not looked comfortable since entering the league and has had awful drops on his limited opportunities. He cannot get separation, which was a strength in college, and has not stood out on special teams. Whatever team acquired him will be looking at Pettis’ college tape and hope that he can run savvy routes and separate from defenders. Normally I’d expect this to be a wash, but with all the injuries around the league, it would not be a shock if someone tries to nab a former high pick.
Samual/Aikuk are the 9ers best options at WR, but I’d still look for Kittle all day