The San Francisco 49ers addressed a positional need before Tuesday’s trade deadline wrapped up, making another trade with the Indianapolis Colts by acquiring veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen for a 2027 sixth-round pick.
The trade created a divide with 49ers fans who were hoping to land a younger Colts option like Josh Downs, who ended up going to the Kansas City Chiefs, but bringing in Allen makes sense for what San Francisco is building offensively and fits its scheme perfectly.
49ers valued Keenan Allen’s size
The biggest factor is that the 49ers are trying to load up on tall, sure-handed receivers to help bring down Brock Purdy’s passes, especially when the quarterback (6-foot-1) is three to four inches shorter than his offensive line.
Watch any Purdy highlight reel and he loves to throw balls up high above the trenches and lurking defenders where only his big targets can grab them, which is paying off for him and the 49ers.
San Francisco’s WR room only has two players under six-feet and Allen provides a 6-foot-2 target for Purdy. Allen, who was neck and neck with Downs for receiving leads in Indianapolis also provides another veteran presence to an older group looking for that elusive Super Bowl ring.
To show how valuable size is to Purdy this season, in the 49ers’ two full games without 6-foot-5 Mike Evans in the lineup, it was 6-foot-4 tight end George Kittle leading the receiving targets — 10 against the Atlanta Falcons and seven against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Not counting the Washington Commanders game, where Evans left to injury, the WR was Purdy’s leading target in two other games and was one shy for the lead in the other three contests, ironically enough behind Kittle in two of those.
Purdy values throwing to a sure bet with Evans, Kittle, Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel, the latter two were also in the mix for top targets in those games. Adding Allen will not only give Purdy one more tall target once a rapport is formed, but will also free up everyone else as well.
Keenan Allen was a very cheap acquisition for the 49ers
The 49ers only had to give up a sixth-round pick to bring in Allen for the rest of the season. Allen’s cost is also only under $1M, which is valuable to a team that is likely to take a hit over the Brandon Aiyuk situation.
After the Allen and DeForest Buckner trades, the Niners only have five picks in the upcoming draft, which would be the lowest amount since 2020. Downs, and a 2027 seventh, was flipped for a 2027 fourth and fifth, which was trade capital the 49ers no longer had to get a WR rental — Buckner went for a fourth. Plus, the Colts seemed set on bringing in 2027 picks as five of the six acquired selections are in that draft.
A cheap, sure-handed veteran was a no-brainer decision for the front office to make and is the right move to help bolster an offense that’s top of the league in EPA and pass EPA moving forward.
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