If the world wants to find out whether cornerback Eric Wright is the exceptional player he says he is, they’ll need to watch 49ers games this season.
The Buccaneers announced Friday afternoon that they have traded Wright to the 49ers in exchange for a conditional 2014 draft pick. The trade comes at the tail end of an offseason that started with speculation that the Bucs would cut Wright after his 2012 performance-enhancing drug suspension wiped out the remaining guaranteed money on his deal.
Wright wound up taking a one-year, $1.5 million deal to stick with Tampa. The 49ers will be responsible for paying that salary now. The trade’s been met with some immediate disapproval from Wright’s former teammate Donald Penn, who tweeted that he “can’t believe this trade and I’m going to leave it at that.”
With Wright gone, second-round pick Johnthan Banks is a good bet to start across from Darrelle Revis on the Bucs defense. The 49ers have a large group of corners competing for roles this season -- Nnamdi Asomugha, Carlos Rogers, Tarell Brown, Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox are among the names -- so Wright’s arrival might presage other moves as the team starts tweaking its roster during training camp.