The San Francisco 49ers’ starting left guard, Alex Boone, has been holding out of 49ers training camp with no signs of coming back soon. Boone feels he deserves a new contract and the 49ers don’t do business with any players who aren’t at training camp. With backup right guard Joe Looney impressing head coach Jim Harbaugh and the depth the 49ers have on their offensive line, there’s a good chance this holdout lasts awhile, and the longer it lasts, the more teams are going to call the 49ers about a trade involving Boone. Five teams that should be interested or already are interested are:
New York Giants
The Giants are probably the least likely team on this list to land Boone. They’re returning three starters this season and have added a few guys they expect to play big roles. What’s going to push the Giants to pursue Boone is their starter at left tackle, Will Beatty. The best part about a player like Boone is his versatility. He is able to play anywhere on the line at a high level except at center. As training camp and the preseason moves forward, the Giants may become more interested in Boone if their offensive line doesn’t perform well.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs have already emerged as one of the top teams looking to eventually trade for Boone. They have lost a lot along the offensive line. To start with, their starting guard from last year, Carl Nicks, decided to call it quits and retire leaving a vacancy at the left guard position. Their interior line has also looked awful up to this point in training camp and the preseason. Their starting right guard, Jamon Meredith, has already been pulled from the first-team offense. The biggest problem for the Bucs is going to be their salary cap. Right now they are just over $5 million above the salary cap. While that’s enough to get an extension done with Boone, they don’t want to get the extension done and make it impossible to do much else.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL and the most cap space in the entire NFL. They currently have all of their 2015 draft picks ready and able to trade so what might be stopping them from making a run at Boone? Head coach Gus Bradley is certainly looking for younger players to bring in and help build their foundation with and Boone is that kind of player. They could plug Boone in right next to left tackle Luke Joeckel and they might be one of the best tackle-guard tandems in the league.
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have two good tackles but severely lack at the interior line. They have all their draft picks in the 2015 draft and nearly $14 million in cap space. Their General Manager, Ryan Grigson, is certainly familiar with making big trades and wouldn’t be opposed to trading for Boone. He might be more willing to make this trade to help their offensive line in hopes to get Trent Richardson, the running back he trade a first round pick for, more protection. As Boone’s holdout continues, look for the Colts to become more and more interested.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins had to completely revamp their offensive line this season. With their new unit there are questions at just about every position. If the Dolphins traded for Boone the only question would be about chemistry along the line. Miami has over $12 million in cap space and all of their draft picks in 2015. If the Dolphins start to realize that their new offensive line is a lot worse than they expected, they could very well start making calls to the 49ers asking about Boone.