The San Francisco 49ers are in a tough situation with Aldon Smith and they are also dealing with shopping LaMichael James in a trade along with the talk about Colin Kaepernick and his sexual assault investigation and as the draft comes closer, a trade with Smith could be possible to the Oakland Raiders, Chicago Bears or Washington Redskins if the team doesn't pick up his fifth year contract option.
While any of these deals are unlikely, ESPN.com writer Bill Williamson reports that it could be an option for the 49ers if they feel that Smith has worn out his welcome. Smith has been a dominant player when he is on the field, but he has been a mess off of it and he missed five games this season while dealing with treatment related to an alcohol incident. Smith was mixed up in an incident at LAX this offseason and he has had multiple run ins with police, including a drunk driving incident as well as an issue with gun charges stemming from a party last year.
The 49ers know that the option on Smith is $9.75 million and it comes as he was a first round pick in 2011 and now they have a major decision, as the deadline coming up is in May and is the cutoff for picking up those options. Smith's option would seem like a no-brainer before last year, but the way he has been off the field has been an issue and now the Niners have to decide what is best for the franchise. The team can still keep Smith even without the option, but that means a $12 million-$13 million deal on the franchise tag and he could be a free agent after that.
According to ESPN.com, the Niners are still deciding what to do about Smith, as they love his production on the field, but with his issues off of it along with the Colin Kaepernick situation, there is only so much bad press a team can deal with. The 49ers may pass on the option and that could mean a potential trade in the future, as Smith still is a great player and is very young with just three years under his belt. He missed only five games in his career because of the issues last season and before that he played in all 16 games on the schedule. Last season he had 8.5 sacks and in the two seasons before that he had 19.5 sacks and 14.0 sacks and that type of production is hard to come by.
The 49ers have tons of draft picks, so making moves with Smith or James won't do much for that, but it could enable the team to move up or down depending on how they want to approach things. James has played sparingly in his short career, but he is fast and can return kicks and that could be an option for the Bears or Redskins, as they are lacking in that area. The Bears lost Devin Hester and they also need a backup for Matt Forte and they have enough picks to make a deal for James and still have an impact draft in May.
