Should the 49ers look into moving one of their backup QBs?

The San Francisco 49ers elected to carry three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster once again this season, taking advantage of the “emergency quarterback” rule, as they kept Brock Purdy, Brandon Allen, and Josh Dobbs.

While Purdy was the obvious starter heading into the year, the 49ers had a competition between their backups, with Allen having a healthy lead in practice, while Dobbs flashed in the preseason games.

Ultimately, Allen won the backup job, but the difference in styles for both quarterbacks allows San Francisco to do different things with their scout team, creating a use for both players.

One other aspect though of carrying three veteran quarterbacks is the idea of having a quality trade piece during the year as other teams around the league start facing injuries at the position. And that’s happening quite a bit currently.

The Miami Dolphins, most notably, are going to be without Tua Tagovailoa for at least the next four games following yet another concussion, leaving Skylar Thompson as their starter for now. Working behind Tagovailoa last year, Thompson was unimpressive, tossing for 534 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions, while completing only 57 percent of his throws.

Additionally, the Green Bay Packers saw Jordan Love sustain an MCL sprain in Week 1, but it doesn’t seem to be as serious as they imagined. He could return within the next two weeks, with Malik Willis taking over from there.

Starting quarterbacks aren’t the only ones getting injured, as backups such as Washington’s Marcus Mariota, Pittsburgh’s Russell Wilson, and Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy are all facing injuries currently as well.

The market for a backup quarterback may not be present at the moment, but Miami presents an intriguing fit, as both of San Francisco’s quarterbacks have experience running the Kyle Shanahan offense, which could make the transition easier as they get accumulated to the Dolphins.

Miami is still looking to push for a playoff spot, despite an ugly 31-10 loss, and they’ll need adequate quarterback play to remain competitive over the next few weeks, which could prompt them to make a call looking for a serviceable option in the meantime.

Of course, it’s only Week 3 and things could ramp up for the 49ers in terms of trade activity as the deadline approaches, but San Francisco should definitely be listening in on trade calls and may have some options currently when it comes to dealing one of their backup quarterbacks.

Of the two, Dobbs may have more trade value, given his experience as a starter over the last few years, and the 49ers also may be more willing to part with the veteran, as Brandon Allen is their current No. 2 quarterback.