Before I go and delve into the list of potential offensive linemen that the 49ers could trade for let me go over the process that I used to generate the list. For starters, there were a couple of guidelines I used to pick the teams I would look at for a potential trade. First off I didn’t look at a team in the division since they would either not trade or ask a higher price for giving a good player to a team they would play twice a year. Secondly, I looked at the teams that aren’t having too much success this season because when a team is doing poorly they tend to need a number of pieces opposed to just one or two specific needs which gives the Niners flexibility, something they will need in this trade since they don’t have many good players they are wiling to part with.

I also had guidelines on the type of player I was looking for as well. Seeing as the 49ers are not a team that is going for it all this year they would be looking for as young of a player as possible. This first part becomes even more important when you think the Niners would most likely give up a draft pick of some sort to get this player, and no one wants to use a draft pick on a player that will be with the team for less than four years. Also I felt the player the Niners would go for would be a starter on the team they are coming from. I know it is a popular trend to take a highly touted back up but that is a bit of a gamble. The results of such trades have been fairly 50/50, for every Michael Turner that a team gets there is at least one Matt Shaub or Bryant Johnson. Sometimes these players do end up being great, but at least half the time they simply show why they were one of the better back ups in the league.

That being said the 49ers don’t have much room to gamble, a move for an offensive linemen could be a difference maker in their season and for a team that is trying to play a different brand of football than they have in recent years draft picks are valuable (look how well the Niners did in the draft this year with Glen Coffee, Scott McKillop, and Nate Davis). Now Granted this seems like quite high standards for a team trying to improve the weakest unit they field, but the 49ers are not going to win the Super Bowl this year and are still in the process of building a championship caliber team and those are not made over night. The Niners should only make this trade if they feel they are doing at least as well as they would if they had waited for the draft, they may pay a slightly higher price for getting the player right now but I feel serious help on the offensive line could equate to another win or two this season for them.

Thinking of the terrible teams in the NFL Tampa Bay jumped to mind, on top of being a team that I am sure would like to add draft picks they have a talented guard in 4^th year veteran Davin Joseph. I know it can be hard to trade for a team’s best offensive linemen (arguably) when they are only 25 years old but considering the play of the offensive line as a whole so far this year and the fact that this is clearly a rebuilding year for the Buccaneers I believe some sort of trade could be reached between the two teams, the only question is whether or not they can make it happen at a price the Niners are willing to pay.

Another team that is doing poorly and has some talent on its offensive line is the Titans. Now granted they are a run first team that was known for exceptional line play last year but with a decent amount of depth the 49ers may be able to make a deal for guard Jake Scott. I know Scott was a free agent pick up that just came in last year and helped the teams offensive line become a more cohesive unit but this is another team that is in the middle of a lost year, and since they aren’t making the playoffs this year you know that Jeff Fisher and Co. are looking towards the future. Well in professional sports the draft in the future and Fisher is a coach that loves getting draft picks and normally does quite well with them. On top of this they might be looking for another first or second round pick in this up coming draft seeing as one of theirs might need to be used in a quarterback. The only snag in this option is that some of the Titans’ better offensive linemen are getting long in the tooth they might not be willing to part with a good young one.

A third option for the 49ers (although he would also be their third choice of the three named) is Vince Manuwai from the Jaguars. The Jags are another team that is far from where they wanted to be this year and because of that might be willing to do some dealing to get them in a better position for next year. Now at 29 years old Manuwai is probably not as young as the Niners would like but keep in mind they did trade for Justin Smith from the Bengals when he was that age.

As stated in my last post I am looking for the Niners to draft a guard to replace David Bass instead of a tackle that could help solidify the right side of the line because I feel the Niners are currently getting better play out of the rotation of Adam Snyder and Tony Pashos then they are out of Baas and on top of that Baas is more or less all the Niners have at the position thanks to the lack of development of recent draft pick Cody Wallace. As with most of these types of articles if the Niners make a trade for an offensive linemen before the deadline there is only a small chance of it being one of the three mentioned here but from my research these are the three candidates that jump out to me as players that could help the unit and that the Niners could get for a reasonable price.

Team/Player Photos: San Francisco 49ers Team / Player Photos on Jul 23, 2010