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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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The San Francisco 49ers pulled off one of the bigger trades on Tuesday, sending a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen. Now 34, and potentially playing the final season of his accomplished NFL career, Allen's not the elite playmaker he once was, but he's still a master technician with some of the most reliable hands in football and a future Hall of Famer, now slotting in next to another legend in Mike Evans.
San Francisco also needed the help with a receiving corps that's been devastated by injuries, including Evans with Achilles tendinitis and a rib injury, Deebo Samuel with a hamstring issue, Christian Kirk with a knee injury, and rookie De'Zhaun Stribling still on IR with an ankle issue. Evans and Samuel could return soon, but Brock Purdy needed another reliable pass catcher, and the 49ers got one in Allen.
But apparently, Allen wasn't their only target. According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, San Francisco was also looking at tight ends, notably Denver Broncos' star Evan Engram.
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"The 49ers looked around for tight end help, and the Broncos' Evan Engram was on their radar," Fowler wrote. "But they landed on Keenan Allen, who's a bigger receiver and perhaps serves some of the same functions in the offense."
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Engram is a 32-year-old tight end and in the middle of a down year in Denver, with just 169 receiving yards and one touchdown on 17 catches (31 targets) through nine games. He clearly isn't as big a part of the offense as the team seemingly paid him to be in 2025, when they signed him to a two-year, $23 million contract. But with Engram now in the final year of that contract, he's also an intriguing addition for a playoff contender, especially with him being a two-time Pro Bowler.
Like Allen, his best years are behind him, but it would have given Purdy another option in the middle of the field, similar to the role Allen is expected to play. The 49ers already lost backup tight end Jake Tonges to a season-ending MCL tear too, so they likely wanted to have more depth behind George Kittle. But the wide receiver position has been hit harder than any in San Francisco, so sticking with Allen was probably the right move.
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