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49ers brass confirms Vance McDonald is on trade block

Former NFL executive Mike Lombardi on Twitter pointed out the 49ers were shopping tight end Vance McDonald during the NFL draft this week, which coach Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch confirmed on Saturday after the team added 10 draftees, including a tight end drafted in Round 5, Iowa’s George Kittle.

“I think that’s the reality of new regimes coming in, new schemes. That’s not to say that he can’t fit into our scheme,” Lynch said. “Frankly, we received some interest from some other people and then we did explore some options throughout the league with Vance and nothing ended up happening. So, Vance will come back and have an opportunity to compete. That’s where that stands.”

McDonald signed a three-year, $19.7-million extension in December, weeks before the team fired general manager Trent Baalke. The 49ers since bringing in Lynch and Shanahan added tight ends Logan Paulsen and Kittle, joining Garrett Celek, Blake Bell and Je’Ron Hamm.

McDonald has been plagued by inconsistent hands since coming into the league in 2013 with high expectations as a second-round draft pick. He logged just 64 receptions over his four years and set a career high with 391 yards receiving and four touchdowns in 2016.

“We took over a 2-14 team and we need to get better in every aspect and we’re going to try to in every aspect,” said Shanahan. “We’re trying any way possible to improve our team. We did it with Vance the most because a lot of people are interested in Vance. But, we were ready to do that with anybody. We’ll listen to that always and try to improve our team in any way we can because we have a lot of work to do. If we don’t think it will improve our team, then we’re going to do what’s best for the organization and I think our players will respect that.”

Shanahan said he texted with McDonald about the situation and will speak to him when he shows up at the team’s facility this week. For Shanahan, it’s all about improving the team.

“We want Vance here. All the guys we have here, we want here until you can get better,” he said.

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