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The 49ers, fresh off another round of bad news regarding the availability of their wide receivers, have traded for one to bolster the position.
Speedster Skyy Moore is coming from the Kansas City Chiefs to the 49ers, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The cost — a swap of sixth- and seventh-round picks — is minimal. Moore, who turns 25 next month, is entering the final year of his rookie contract and will cost the 49ers only $1.5 million in 2025 base salary.
Earlier Wednesday, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan revealed on KNBR that second-year wideout Jacob Cowing missed the day’s practice after a flare-up of his original hamstring issue.
Cowing, who sustained that injury during warmups of the 49ers’ very first training camp practice, has missed the majority of the team’s practices so far. That has exacerbated the team’s already throbbing headache at receiver.
Shanahan also confirmed that the NFL has suspended veteran wideout Demarcus Robinson, who pled no contest to a DUI charge last month, for the expected three games to begin the 2025 season.
The 49ers are still hoping that the appeals process might knock some time off that suspension, but the team is planning around Robinson being out for those three games and not returning until a Sept. 28 date against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Meanwhile, potential return dates for Cowing, Jauan Jennings (calf and contract issues), Brandon Aiyuk (ACL and MCL tears) and Jordan Watkins (high ankle sprain) are much murkier. Ricky Pearsall is still healthy, but there seems to be a growing chance that the 49ers might be down six of their top seven receivers for the Sept. 7 season opener at Seattle.
Enter Moore.
The 49ers aren’t acquiring him to play Aiyuk’s banner “X” receiver position or even to be their No. 2 wideout. Shanahan is simply looking for enough burst — and Moore’s strong suit is measured by the elite 1.46-second 10-yard split of his 40-yard dash — to help clear some space off the line of scrimmage.
The 49ers would be deluding themselves if they thought Moore — who posted a career-high 250 receiving yards as a rookie in 2022 — is bringing top-end receiving ability.
But they would be correct in assuming that Moore can benefit a decimated receiving corps while simultaneously giving their special teams units a boost. He may take a roster spot away from rookie specialist Junior Bergen, who might’ve needed better health in the receiving room for the 49ers to have the luxury of carrying him on the roster beyond the Aug. 26 cutdown.
In a preseason game against Seattle just five days ago, Moore returned a punt for an 88-yard touchdown. Over his three seasons with the Chiefs, that’s where some of Moore’s biggest contributions came: His 29-yard punt return in the 2022 season’s AFC Championship Game helped set up the game-winning field goal that sent Kansas City to the Super Bowl.
“His punt return and kick return ability has really gotten better over the years, and it showed right there,” Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub said Tuesday about Moore. “He’s solid. The other part: It’s a mental thing with him. It’s about getting over that hump. He’s definitely an NFL player — whether he’s on our team or not on our team — and I think that return helped him.”
Maybe that’s what tipped the scales for the 49ers, who’ve been interested in trading for a receiver at an efficient price. They reportedly made an offer to the Houston Texans for wideout John Metchie III this past weekend but were outbid by the Philadelphia Eagles.
So instead, it’s Moore who is on his way to the Bay Area — and the 49ers may not be done wheeling and dealing just yet.
