The San Francisco 49ers and Washington Commanders finalized a trade ahead of the deadline that sent defensive end Chase Young to San Francisco in return for a 2024 third-round pick.
Two facts stand out in the aftermath of this trade:
1. The 49ers have an incredibly unfair defense. 2. The Commanders are in full sell-mode.
Here are our trade grades of the Chase Young deal.
NFL Trade Grades: 49ers build the best defensive line in the league with Chase Young trade
49ers grade: A+
The 49ers have lost three in a row in the last three weeks, causing some to wonder if panic is starting to mount in San Francisco's locker room. Well, this latest trade just about slams the lid on any creeping feelings of insecurity.
Chase Young, a 2020 No. 2 overall pick, has struggled to find his footing in the league partly due to debilitating injuries. He's only played 32 games in the last four years and is in the final year of his rookie contract.
Clearly, he wasn't part of the Commanders' rebuilding plans for the future. Washington's loss is San Francisco's enormous gain.
The former DROY will be reunited with former Ohio State teammate Nick Bosa in a downright scary defensive line (fitting that today is Halloween). The current front four looks like: Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, Javon Hargrave, Chase Young. That's a Super Bowl-winning group right there.
Giving up only a third-rounder for him feels like a great deal even considering his injury history (torn ACL, neck and groin issues). One could hardly label him injury-prone this early in the season, and for the most part, Young has bounced back since his ACL tear and is starting to live up to his first-round hype; he has five sacks on the year.
He may not rock the boat like CMC did last trade deadline, but he should fit right into the 49ers' elite defense.
Also, as Albert Breer writes, the 49ers can technically get back their draft compensation and still get a half-season's worth of Chase Young.
Commanders grade: B
The Commanders' new ownership seems to be making a statement this October. After trading star pass-rusher Montez Sweat to the Bears, Washington has pried its fingers off of Chase Young and shipped him away to San Francisco.
The Commanders will enter the 2024 NFL Draft with three picks in the top 50 after these two trades. Is it worth it?
With a fortified D-line of Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne, the Commanders may have been more incentivized to unload talented roster pieces like Sweat and Young. Yet trading away both feels a little like overkill considering the two stars were valued as foundational players at one point.
Also, given that the Commanders got a second-rounder in return for Sweat, they may have been able to squeeze a little more juice out of the 49ers. A third-round comp pick for their former first-round pick doesn't scream "trade wizardry" like, say, Howie Roseman's deals with the Titans do.
One needs only look back to 2020 when the Commanders made another fateful trade with the 49ers, sending Trent Williams to S.F. in exchange for a third- and a fifth-rounder.
Let's hope the Commanders know what they're doing this time around.
