49ers GM Trent Baalke was wheeling and dealing on Saturday, trimming the roster down from 75 players to 53.
In a move that indicates the team clearly wasn’t impressed by the wide receiving depth of Dres Anderson, DeAndrew White and DeAndre Smelter, the 49ers acquired Rod Streater from the Chiefs. All three of the youngsters were waived.
The other trade was with rival Seahawks, who will receive safety L.J. McRay in exchange for an undisclosed draft pick.
Streater’s career stats: 109 receptions, 1,564 yards, 8 touchdowns, 14.3 yards per catch in four seasons. He’ll have to catch on quickly, but his 6-foot-2 size will be a welcomed addition next to Torrey Smith, Quinton Patton and Jeremy Kerley. Rookie Aaron Burbridge was the other wide receiver kept.
An undrafted rookie from a year ago, McCray is coming off a torn ACL. His cut was a tad surprising. The team kept Marcus Cromartie instead.
Will any of these deals have a significant impact on the 49ers’ win total? Not at all. You can’t expect end of the roster moves to take you from 5-11 to 9-7. But I’ll give Baalke credit for pulling the plug on the young unproven wide receivers. They simply aren’t ready to make an NFL impact yet. I’d expect another wide receiver to be added at some point in September.
To recap the two deals:
A)
49ers get: WR Rod Streater
Chiefs gets: Undisclosed draft pick
B)
49ers get: Undisclosed draft pick
Seahawks get: S L.J. McCray.