The San Francisco 49ers are going to need to address wide receiver at multiple points this offseason, especially if they lose Jauan Jennings in addition to Brandon Aiyuk. One of the top names currently available in free agency is WanDale Robinson.
Will the San Francisco 49ers pursue WanDale Robinson in free agency?
At first glance, teams should be rushing to pay Robinson. He just put up 1,000 yards, and he will only be 25 years old next season. Sure, he just had 699 and 525 in the years prior, but it shows the steady progression and also shows production to some degree in every season. These players rarely hit free agency, and teams should jump all over it when they do.
The other end is that Robinson is 5’8”, his route tree is a bit limited, and he only produced so much because Malik Nabers was injured and his team trailed so often that they had to throw underneath routes against soft zone coverage. This is why a 25-year-old with production like Robinson is not in the midst of an absurd bidding war.
Spotrac has Robinson projected to get $17.6M per year, on a four-year $70.57M deal. That is not bad considering the production, but if a team does not use him right, they are going to be stuck paying a lot of money to a gadget player that they can hardly use.
One good note is that Kyle Shanahan has always been good at finding the right role for his skill players. If the team added Robinson you would think that Shanahn had a proper plan to use him. On the other hand, it seems as though the 49ers have different versions of Robinson already on their roster.
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They drafted Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins and then traded for Skyy Moore. All three are a bit undersized, and they do more with the ball in their hands than the other way around. Watkins brings a bit more down the field, but that makes him a younger and less productive version of Robinson.
If the 49ers are going to lose Aiyuk and Jennings, they likely want some size to replace it. Robinson would just be adding onto the style of receiver they already have, or at the least, admitting defeat and that Watkins and Cowing are not meant to be on this team.
Robinson is the right free agent for some teams, and he is the position San Francisco needs, but is not the ideal fit.