The San Francisco 49ers have acquired wide receiver Skyy Moore and a 2027 seventh-round pick from the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round selection. The move comes as several of the 49ers‘ wide receivers, including Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins, and Russell Gage, are dealing with injuries during training camp.
Moore, 24, had a strong college career at Western Michigan from 2019 to 2021, recording 171 catches for 2,482 yards and 15 touchdowns over 30 games. He received All-MAC honors three times and was selected by the Chiefs with the No. 54 overall pick in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
However, Moore has struggled to meet expectations since entering the National Football League. In three seasons with the Chiefs, he has played in 36 games and made 43 receptions for 494 yards and one touchdown. He has also contributed on special teams as both a punt returner and kickoff returner.
General manager John Lynch addressed the reasoning behind the trade during his weekly appearance on KNBR’s “Murph and Markus” show Thursday. Lynch said: “I think the bottom line is, Skyy’s a talented guy who probably, a change in environment was needed (…) And we get a chance to do it this early. What I like about it is it gives us an opportunity to evaluate him here before the season. Very talented young man who was a second-round pick in the 2022 draft (…)” “Probably has fallen short of the expectations they had for him, but he brings a lot of value in terms of, he’s a dual-returner, meaning he can do punt and kickoff return. With Jacob Cowing out, that became valuable and important to us. We really believe there’s a lot of talent and sometimes, talent, in spot, expectations of being a second-round pick and not living up to it, the scrutiny, sometimes a change of scenery is a needed thing,” Lynch said.
In addition to injuries among their wide receivers group, the team will be without Demarcus Robinson for the first three games due to an NFL suspension related to an offseason DUI incident.
The organization hopes that Moore will benefit from working with head coach Kyle Shanahan and quarterback Brock Purdy after limited success under Andy Reid’s offense in Kansas City.
