49ers NFL Trade Market: Insider Says Former 3rd-Rounder Could be Dealt

Getty Tyrion Davis-Price, 49ers running back

If there is one thing that has become clear, even before San Francisco‘s acquisition of defensive end Randy Gregory, it’s that we can expect to see an active 49ers NFL trade market in the coming weeks.

Assuming another trade is in the offing, the 49ers can use their mass of available cap space to take on players—even high-priced ones—in their win-now pursuit of a Super Bowl ring. But there are only 53 roster spots available, and that where the burgeoning 49ers NFL trade market could cost someone his job.

A likely candidate: second-year running back Tyrion Davis-Price.

Matt Barrows, the 49ers’ beat reporter for The Athletic, picked Davis-Price as the most likely 49ers outgoing trade candidate, and wrote, “They do have an abundance of running backs. Even with Elijah Mitchell out of action recently with a knee injury, Davis-Price has had trouble seeing the field. His first carries of the season came at the end of Sunday’s blowout win over the Cowboys.”

49ers RB Depth Hurts Tyrion Davis-Price

The big problem for Davis-Price, a third-round pick out of LSU in 2022, is the team’s depth at running back. Christian McCaffrey is the starter and Mitchell, who is struggling with injuries for the second straight year now, is No. 2 on the depth chart. When he has been out, it is Jordan Mason (undrafted in 2022) taking on backup duties.

Barrows wrote: “The 49ers like Davis-Price and think he’s a talented runner. The issue is he’s been leapfrogged for the No. 3 role by Jordan Mason, who went undrafted the same year Davis-Price was a third-round pick. Mason is good on special teams and actually led all rushers Sunday with 69 yards on 10 carries.”

With four running backs on hand, the 49ers are already stretching the bounds of what makes sense for their roster. If the 49ers NFL trade market does heat up, someone will have to go, and taking on a late-round draft pick for Davis-Price might be the 49ers’ only option.

Tyrion Davis-Price Has Value

It would be unfortunate, because Davis-Price does have some value. It would be a shrewd team that tries to pluck him from the 49ers. He is talented, but it seems motivation has been a challenge for him.

Before the 2022 draft, the NFL.com scouting report on Davis-Price went: “He’s an enigmatic back featuring urgency, indecisiveness, physicality and finesse on any given carry. He got much better as the season progressed and clearly finds a rhythm when given volume carries. Scouts say that staying motivated will be a major factor in future success.”

There was hope that, in the offseason, he had made enough strides to warrant a promotion on the depth chart.

“I think he’s taken a huge jump since last year,” coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters in July. “Just the conditioning that he put in, in phase one and two. What he did these 40 days away, just how good he was the first day we saw him in terms of his stamina, how he’s running, understanding the offense, what we want out of him more.”

“He had a great OTAs, and he’s come back, and he’s even having a better training camp.”

Not quite good enough, though, to beat out Mason. Should the Niners make another trade, look for Davis-Price to land elsewhere.