Kyle Shanahan Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
ArticlesNFLBy Chris Novak on

Would the San Francisco 49ers really trade head coach Kyle Shanahan?

The head coach trade is rare, but it’s happened on a handful of occasions this century. And now, Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman has stepped up to suggest that Shanahan could be a trade target for teams this offseason.

Aikman floated the possibility during the Monday Night Football telecast Monday night between the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings.

“There has been discussion about, do you give up some picks and see if you can maybe make a deal for a guy like Kyle Shanahan? I would be all in on that,” Aikman declared. “Because he would develop a quarterback and is a hell of a head coach.”

Aikman isn’t the first to point out this possibility. PFT’s Mike Florio tossed the idea around earlier in December, thinking perhaps maybe the Chicago Bears would make a play to help develop rookie Caleb Williams.

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The 49ers are going to be at a crossroads soon. San Francisco hasn’t had a good season, Brock Purdy is due for a new contract, and right now, their head coach is a potential trade candidate. At least that’s what the rumor mill says. So we’ll see where Shanahan goes.

The most famous head coach trade occurred before the 2002 NFL season. The Raiders traded Jon Gruden to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and then Tampa Bay went on to win the Super Bowl over the Raiders. New Orleans recently traded Sean Payton to Denver, and the Broncos have since benefited.

So there’s precedent. Will it happen? Many weighed in.

[Awful Announcing]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022

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