Kyle Shanahan: 49ers Not Among Teams to Inquire on Antonio Brown Trade

Although Antonio Brown has seemingly signaled his desire to join the team, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said the Niners haven't formally reached out to the Pittsburgh Steelers about acquiring the Pro Bowl wide receiver, per the Bay Area News Group's Cam Inman. 

Brown formally requested a trade from the Steelers earlier this month, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

CBSSports.com's Jason La Canfora first reported Jan. 1 that Brown informed Pittsburgh he wanted out.

Brown had had an argument with Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and subsequently left the team for a few days prior to Pittsburgh's regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers responded by benching Brown for the game.

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said last week that three teams had reached out about trading for Brown. Colbert followed up Wednesday to say the "interest has grown," with more teams entering the race, per ESPN.com's Jeremy Fowler.

Shortly after that news broke, Brown responded to a tweet from Niners tight end George Kittle.

The Niners theoretically make sense as a landing spot for Brown. He'd be a huge upgrade as the No. 1 receiver, with neither Pierre Garcon nor Marquise Goodwin fitting that role.

But San Francisco would have to decide whether acquiring Brown would be worth it. He has a cap hit of nearly $22.2 million in 2019, which would eat up a lot of the team's available salary cap space ($69.2 million).

Then there's the cost necessary to convince the Steelers to give up a wideout who has seven Pro Bowl appearances and four All-Pro honors in nine seasons.

Shanahan's denial could merely be subterfuge so as to not tip the team's hand, but the Niners would have very valid reasons to sit out the Brown trade sweepstakes despite his obvious value.