Turns out that Joe Thomas isn't the only superstar, blue-collar tackle taken in the 2007 NFL Draft playing for a terrible football team on the trade market. The 49ers, almost the Browns equal in mediocrity, are making Joe Staley available according to a report from Pro Football Talk.
However the difference is in price: the 49ers, according to Florio, want a first-round pick in exchange for Staley. The Browns reportedly only want a second-round pick to swap Staley.
The Staley cost is more expensive because of his contract: Staley is already 32, but he's under team control through 2019, with an $8.25 million salary next year and highly manageable salaries the final two years of his contract ($4.8 million in both 2018 and 2019).
The same list of teams are interested in Staley that are interested in Thomas: the "Vikings, Giants, Cardinals, Seahawks and, if the 49ers are willing to take whatever they can get, the Patriots" are all on the list.
Minnesota is a problematic contender because, as noted with Staley, they already gave up a first-round pick for Sam Bradford and aren't sitting on much cap space.
The Pats would be interested but aren't giving up a first- or second-round pick for either guy. They value that capital too much (wisely).
There's a dearth of quality offensive line play, there's a dearth of quality contenders for the Super Bowl and there are multiple upper echelon teams who need help at the tackle position.
Staley and Brown are great options, even at their age, and would provide 3-4 years of quality line play. It's not unreasonable to consider the idea of a team making a bold play, but the time before the deadline (Nov. 1, 4 p.m. ET) is going to make it difficult to pull off.
