49ers Listed As A Potential Trade Target For Disgruntled Steelers Cb

The San Francisco 49ers will be a trade target for just about every position out there as the season goes along. Week 1 was a mirage, and the battle of attrition can prove to be costly.

One area where the 49ers did not struggle in Week 1 was at cornerback. Renardo Green was flagged for defensive pass interference. Deommodore Lenoir had an illegal contact penalty. But outside of that, they performed about as well as you could ask that group to, all things considered.

That didn’t stop the 49ers from landing on a list of teams who could trade for Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr.:

The 49ers’ cornerback rotation looked stout Thursday against the Los Angeles Rams, but seasons are long and Porter would help the defense immensely.

San Francisco has eight draft picks in 2027 and around $45 million in cap space.

Porter opposite Deommodore Lenoir would form a stout 1-2 cornerback combo.

Green and Jack Jones missed practice ahead of Week 1. If this had come out before Thursday’s game, it would’ve felt more realistic. The defense is essentially an injury away from Ephesians Prysock being active and needing to play.

But that was not the case. In fact, Raheem Morris used dime personnel on eight plays, where Jones would come in, and there would be five cornerbacks on the field at once.

That’s a sign that Morris has confidence in that group. Porter Jr. is playing in the final year of his rookie contract. If injuries pop up down the line, his name will come up. However, this feels like the 49ers were nothing more than a team thrown into the mix, with little reasoning other than that they presumably had a hole at the position before the season began.

The former second-rounder has good numbers and plenty of ball production throughout his career, but something always seemed missing from Porter Jr. If that weren’t the case, the Steelers would be more eager to retain him long-term.