After Trading For Brian Robinson, 49ers Set At Running Back Entering 2025 Season

After trading for Brian Robinson, 49ers set at running back entering 2025 season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The 49ers traded away running back Jordan Mason for a sixth-round pick in the spring.

On Friday, they acquired running back Brian Robinson Jr. from the Washington Commanders for a sixth-round pick, a league source confirmed to NBC Sports Bay Area.

So, in essence, the 49ers swapped Mason for Robinson and saved nearly $2 million in the process.

Earlier in the week, the 49ers were hit hard at the position.

Veteran Patrick Taylor Jr. was placed on season-ending injured reserve with a fractured shoulder. Promising rookie Corey Kiner is now on injured reserve with a severe high-ankle sprain.

Fifth-round pick Jordan James has rarely practiced this summer. He has missed more than two weeks after surgery to repair a fractured finger.

So the 49ers went out and acquired a starting-caliber running back.

Of course, as long as Christian McCaffrey is healthy, the 49ers do not need another starting running back.

But the acquisition of Robinson provides the 49ers with a second quality backup. Isaac Guerendo has shown a lot of potential, but has experienced injury concerns from his years in college to his rookie season to training camp this summer.

Robinson essentially replaces Mason, who was the 49ers’ leading rusher last season while McCaffrey was dealing with Achilles and knee injuries.

The 49ers originally tendered Mason at $5.3 million in the spring to retain his contract rights as a restricted free agent.

The 49ers were never going to pay Mason that much with optimism that McCaffrey would return healthy and while they were going through a salary-cap belt-tightening.

They ended up trading Mason to the Minnesota Vikings for a sixth-round pick. The Vikings signed him to a two-year, $10.5 million contract, including $7.2 million fully guaranteed.

On Friday, the deal was finalized to send one of the 49ers’ scheduled sixth-round picks to Washington for Robinson.

Commanders general manager Adam Peters and 49ers general manager Lynch engineered the trade. Peters worked for the 49ers under Lynch from 2017 through 2023.

Robinson and Mason had similar rushing production last season.

Robinson, who started 37 of the 41 games in which he has appeared through three seasons, rushed for 799 yards and eight touchdowns on 187 carries.

Mason led the 49ers with 789 yards and three touchdowns on 153 carries.

Where Robinson is significantly more accomplished than Mason is as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. Robinson had 56 catches for 527 yards and four touchdowns over the past two seasons. Mason had just 11 catches for 91 yards in 12 games last season.

Robinson is scheduled to make $3.4 million in the final year of his contract, which is a significant savings over what it would have cost to retain Mason.

The 49ers’ trade for Robinson is a move the 49ers made for this season, as Robinson will be an unrestricted free agent next spring.

Whereas the 49ers were wafer-thin at running back earlier this week, it looks as if they are in a much better spot at running back than even before the injuries hit them.

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