No, San Francisco will not commerce Mike McGlinchey this offseason

While it’s little more than a talking point, the idea of ​​the 49ers trading right tackle Mike McGlinchey this offseason has been tumbled.

The grass is not always greener on the other side.

A year ago, San Francisco 49ers fans regularly pointed out Mike McGlinchey’s shortcomings. Playing under ideal weight perhaps, McGlinchey wasn’t always a full commitment in pass protection. But when he was beaten, he was badly beaten. Just looking at some of these puffs can indicate that.

So it might have come as a surprise when the Niners exercised McGlinchey’s fifth-year option for 2022, fully guaranteed $10.88 million according to Over the Cap last offseason, with full intentions that he still at least another year remains.

While fans might not have had total confidence in McGlinchey’s abilities, San Francisco clearly did.

Not nearly as strong as the 49ers’ perennial Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams, McGlinchey nevertheless looked much better during his 2021 season before suffering a serious quadriceps injury that ended his season after eight games.

However, amid all the speculation about what they might be doing this offseason, an idea was raised that the Niners might be trading with McGlinchey in 2022:

Trading Mike McGlinchey would save the 49ers $10.8 million this season. Should the 49ers consider moving it?

— Leo Luna (@LeoLuna93) February 3, 2022

The overwhelming response to the poll was “yes,” which isn’t too surprising.

But as is usual with things like this, who would be McGlinchey’s replacement if he were traded? And would a team even want to trade for him?

Mike McGlinchey is far from perfect, but not bad

Again, McGlinchey looked better in 2021 than he did in 2022, and his efforts to block running haven’t exactly let up since his 2018 rookie campaign.

It’s not a perfect assessment. But Pro Football Focus gave McGlinchey a 70.0 pass blocking rating in 2021 compared to 58.3 the season before, and he was on track to concede just four sacks and six quarterback hits versus the five and six quarterback hits, respectively .eleven allowed last season.

While Tom Compton managed to close the gap in McGlinchey’s wake in the second half of the year, and with only so-so results, it’s pretty obvious that San Francisco trusts McGlinchey as a vital cog on the offensive line. particularly in support of the running game, where he was already successful during his college days at Notre Dame.

Would any of this be enough to prompt a trade?

More importantly, the team must have a contingency plan in place. Center Alex Mack is aging, the 49ers need to consider an upgrade for right guard Daniel Brunskill, and left guard Laken Tomlinson is a pending free agent this offseason.

Would creating another need on the O line be a smart move?

The 49ers might struggle to trade Mike McGlinchey even if they wanted to

True, the Niners could settle all of McGlinchey’s $10 million+ in 2022 if they traded him.

It’s rare, however, that other teams are willing to offer much in return for year-long “loan” players, unless those teams have plans to create a long-term renewal following a trade.

That shouldn’t be a problem for the 27-year-old McGlinchey, who is still awaiting his first free-agent deal after his rookie contract expires.

Read more: 49ers 2022 Free Agency Tracker: Who’s Coming and Going?

But the guaranteed nature of this 2021 deal could certainly act as a distraction, and the fact that he’s picked up a serious injury that could easily affect his ability next season will almost certainly act as a deterrent as well.

Put simply, any team interested in O-Line help this offseason probably won’t want to offer more than an early third-day NFL draft pick in return for their services, especially given their risk of not making it on time to recover.

And since San Francisco doesn’t exactly have a high-quality backup plan to replace McGlinchey, it seems a lot more likely that he’ll see through at least the final year of his contract.