The 49ers trade of tight end Derek Carrier to the tight end needy Washington Redskins for a conditional 5th round pick became official this afternoon. While trades of players with a minimal future with a team is somewhat common, and the 49ers had a number of tight ends on the roster, what stood out to me with this trade was that the 49ers had extended Carrier in early March to a two year extension that guaranteed him an additional $400,000. While a $400,000 bonus is certainly not protection from release, it is much more rare to see a team extend a player who was on a minimum contract and then turn around and trade him just a few weeks into camp. That kind of reminded me of this post over at Chase Stuarts site (Football Perspective) about trading draft picks for dollars. Though this was not exactly the scenario that Chase was talking about (that scenario was more about specifically making the signing with the intent of trading) I thought it did paint some idea about the cost of a draft pick Chase was discussing. Continue reading 49ers Trade Derek Carrier and the Cost of a Draft Pick »