SANTA CLARA, Calif. _ Josh Gordon isn't coming to catch Jimmy Garoppolo's passes on the 49ers, who made a play for the Cleveland Browns castoff Monday.
Instead, the New England Patriots swooped in and acquired Gordon for a 2019 conditional fifth-round draft pick, NFL Network reported.
Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have been steadfast all spring and summer that they like their current wide receivers. A conditional fifth-round pick isn't out of their price range, but they also don't own such a pick, having dealt it last year to the Lions for guard Laken Tomlinson.
Odds are, the 49ers were not too comfortable with Gordon's checkered past, or not enough to surrender a fourth-round pick. The 49ers, Dallas and Washington all talked with the Browns before the Patriots won out, ESPN reported.
"Anytime a good player comes available on the open market, you look into all that stuff," Shanahan said. "By no means is it something you ever want to get desperate for.
"I feel very good with the guys on our team. But that's something we looked into and obviously it went a different way."
Of course, he'd also like 49ers receivers to get open faster so Garoppolo doesn't take six sacks like he did in Sunday's home opener, against a Detroit Lions team missing pass rusher Ziggy Ansah.
Adding a big-name receiver makes sense only if one of the 49ers' starters sustains a serious injury. Marquise Goodwin got hurt 17 snaps into the season opener, and his bruised quadriceps kept him out of Sunday's 30-27 win; his status is unknown for the 49ers upcoming visit to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Of Sunday's receivers, Dante Pettis had the most snaps (56 of 64) as he replaced Goodwin in the lineup, followed by Pierre Garcon (48), Trent Taylor (16), Kendrick Bourne (10) and Richie James (7). Their production: Garcon had four catches for 57 yards, Pettis had a 35-yard reception and Bourne's lone catch was a 4-yard touchdown grab.
"They played very, very tight man coverage, aggressive coverage, holding them a lot," Shanahan said.
A Lions defensive holding penalty bailed the 49ers from a late-game collapse. Quandre Diggs got called for holding George Kittle over the middle just before Garoppolo had a pass intercepted and returned to the 49ers 7-yard with 2:14 left. The penalty nullified the turnover, and Lions coach Matt Patricia said Monday he will submit that call to the NFL office for review.
