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The San Francisco 49ers were quite active in making moves ahead of this year’s NFL trade deadline, including with their call to ship off Jeff Wilson Jr. to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a fifth-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft.
Wilson was the 49ers' go-to running back for much of the first half of the season, but this all changed after the team went all out to acquire Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers last month. The 49ers’ plans at the running back position were made clear during their Week 8 road win over the Los Angeles Rams, as McCaffrey featured in 81 percent of snaps in the contest, while Wilson took part in a mere 36 percent of snaps.
During his introductory press conference with the Dolphins on Thursday, Wilson revealed that in the end, he “asked” for a trade from the 49ers.
“It was something that I asked (for),” Wilson said. “There’s a lot of love over there, so they understand. They understand the situation, so they knew where I was at and where I was trying to go. So it was a (mutual) agreement thing.”
The 49ers did not play hardball with Wilson’s request to be moved to another team. From Wilson’s standpoint, he had no preference as to just which team he wanted to be traded to.
“Because the type of person I am, I try to focus on the now,” Wilson said. “So I was still playing with them. I was still getting ready for games with them. So that was my concern. And once I asked where I landed, I had no clue. So that was something I couldn’t control, so I didn’t really worry about it.”
Now with the Dolphins, Wilson sees an offense that has keen playmakers across the board.
“Explosive and fast,” Wilson said. “I mean, just seeing the highlights from them, obviously the NFL posts. To see all of the plays on there — obviously, Tyreek (Hill) and Jaylen (Waddle) are top five receivers in receiving yards. So seeing all that and just watching those guys – obviously, I knew Raheem (Mostert), Salvon (Ahmed), I knew him. He was with us before at the 49ers. Myles Gaskin – I grew up watching him at Washington. He was a person I kind of tried to compare myself with. Like his numbers are first, so I got to – you know what I mean?
“So all those guys, I already knew about them, heard about them and I’m just excited to be here with him and help them.”
For now, Wilson is slated to make his debut with the Dolphins in their Week 9 road contest against the Chicago Bears.
