During the 2023 season, the washington commanders traded chase young to the san francisco 49ers for a third-round pick.
Young, who was once regarded as one of football’s top defensive players after winning defensive rookie of the year, has suffered with multiple injuries throughout his career.
Young hasn’t recovered from his injury, as he hasn’t reached that level of fitness since. When the 49ers traded for him, the expectation was that he would be an elite pass rusher alongside ex ohio state teammate nick bosa.
Young, despite being fit, struggled for most of the 9 games he played for the team. He carried 5 sacks for the commanders before the trade.
During his time with the 49ers, young had just 2.5 sacks. Despite the challenges, there is a degree of excitement in the 49ers re-signing young, according to espn’s dan graziano.
“the 49ers have at least some interest in returning edge rusher chase young, who was a bit of a disappointment for them after their deadline trade to sign him from washington, but who is now just 24 years old and has a great working relationship with star 49ers edge rusher nick bosa. (they were college teammates.)
“you might end up with a one-year prove-it deal from san francisco or someone else,” says the 2020 no. 1).
The potential of the 2nd overall pick is still there. 2 pick young is a good bet for a team to get a potential steal on the free agent scene.
young has shown up throughout his early career. According to graziano, young could sign a one-year prove-it contract, making it an even better idea for a team to take a risk on the soon-to-be 25-year-old.
The injuries have been a concern, but if young can give a team any of what he was able to give the washington commanders in his rookie season, they will be more than happy with his results. It’s uncertain if he’ll be such a player again in the future, since that rookie season.
Even with the commanders’ 5 sacks in 7 games, explosiveness and athleticism weren’t the same as during his rookie season. That was proved to be true with the san francisco 49ers.
Young’s injuries with the 49ers may have been due to changing clubs in the middle of the season and playing for a new club for the first time in his career. Commanders were traded young at the right time.
The washington commanders have made many bad moves in recent years. Under new ownership, their job is to correct many of the mistakes made by previous owners.
They made the first move by moving young, who was traded at the right time in hindsight. Since he needed a new deal this offseason, trading him when they had one was the right move.
It’s unfortunate that the relationship ended the way it did after having such a promising start as any player could have, but it’s just part of the game.
Young will enter free agency for the first time in his career with the opportunity to either sign with a new club or re-sign with the san francisco 49ers. It’s hoped that he will continue to be healthy and be one of football’s best defensive players, as he was expected to be.
Heavy.com’s jon conahan covers the nba and nfl, focusing on the new york knicks, milwaukee bucks, and washington commanders. His sports coverage has appeared in sports illustrated, oddschecker, clutchpoints, and sportskeeda since 2019.
