The franchise tag deadline passed on Tuesday and the free agent market for receivers is looking a little deeper after Allen Robinson and Sammy Watkins went untagged.
That information was likely noted in Santa Clara because the 49ers are expected to be in the market for receiving help now that they’ve locked up Jimmy Garoppolo as their starting quarterback. Many have pointed to Robinson as a potential target because he’d give the 49ers more size at the position than they had in 2017, but head coach Kyle Shanahan isn’t locking onto one type of wideout.
Shanahan said “you don’t have to have that to win” while talking about bigger receivers. Shanahan said the team needs the “right guy” rather than just chasing after a big guy who might not fit into their overall offensive system.
“If his elite trait is size, then we’ll use it,” Shanahan said, via ESPN.com. “But if that’s the only elite trait is size, you only can put him in on the 5-yard line and throw him a jump ball. And now we have this guy that we only use on the 5-yard line who doesn’t help on special teams, can’t play on the field and you only dress five receivers, one guy goes down, the fourth guy is your punt returner and now you have a guy who is just a big, slow jump-ball guy who has got to play over the whole field and now you are losing because of it. You don’t just go ‘Hey, we need a big guy.’ We need good receivers. They come in all shapes and sizes, and whatever the opportunities come, you use it as a coach the best you can.”
With Pierre Garçon expected back from last year’s neck injury to go with Marquise Goodwin and Trent Taylor, the 49ers have some options already on hand at receiver. Adding to that group should only make life better for Garoppolo, but the route they take to that end may not involve a big-ticket free agent addition.