Anthony Davis Trade Rumors: Latest News, Speculation Surrounding 49ers OT

Former San Francisco 49ers right tackle Anthony Davis remains retired from the NFL, but he could be trade bait for the team if he applies for reinstatement.

Continue for updates.

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Baalke Addresses Davis' Status

Friday, April 29

49ers general manager Trent Baalke spoke about Davis' status, per Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com: 

"

There’s no decision to be made. Right now, he’s not in the National Football League. He’s retired. So there’s no reason to even speculate on what we’re going to do or what we might do.

He’s got to be reinstated into the league and that’s a process that takes some time. He doesn’t put in and a day later he’s reinstated. There’s a process that he has to go through.

"

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Davis Responds to Trade Rumor

Monday, April 11

The San Francisco 49ers "want to trade [Davis] and Antoine Bethea," an unnamed front office source revealed to Peter King of MMQB.com on Monday.

However, Davis quickly denied the rumor that he is on the trade block:

"

Trent text me this morning clarifying a "report that surfaced" saying that the trade accusations are "False Reporting". 

— AD (@BamDavis_) April 11, 2016"

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Davis Trade Would Accelerate 49ers' Rebuild

Davis, 26, retired from the NFL in June 2015, but the right tackle indicated he would be applying for reinstatement on April 1:

"

I'll be filing for reinstatement to the NFL later this year. Dealing with Trent is giving me a headache.

— AD (@BamDavis_) April 1, 2016"

One reason the Niners could trade Davis would be to accumulate even more draft picks. As another source revealed to King, "San Francisco will not trade up from seven. Trent Baalke loves his picks too much and has too many needs to give them away."

In one sense, trading Davis for draft picks would be logical. The Niners are in a full rebuild under new head coach Chip Kelly, and it's unlikely Davis' comments about his general manager in his April 1 tweet played well in the San Francisco front office. 

Plus, Kelly—who runs an uptempo, zone-blocking system—may not feel Davis is the right fit for his scheme. Davis didn't react favorably to the Niners courting Kelly over the summer, though he later responded more positively to the hire. 

On the other hand, the Niners have holes all over the roster, and losing a proven player and a dominant run-blocker for unproven commodities may not be appealing.

As Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee wrote in June 2015, "Pro Football Focus ranked Davis 39th out of 84 tackles [in 2014] with a -4.2 pass protection rating and a +5.2 run-blocking grade. He's earned a positive run grade since 2011, and in 2012 his +18.4 run grade from PFF ranked only behind teammate Joe Staley's +28.3 grade."

Davis is capable of playing left tackle or even guard, so his versatility makes him valuable as well.

So there is a case to be made for the Niners trading Davis and a case to be made for them keeping him once he is reinstated. Moving on from Davis would simply be the latest move in what is turning out to be a fairly transformative offseason for the Niners. 

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