Dieter Kurtenbach: The 49ers have a big problem at wide receiver. Here are three reasonable solutions.

The 49ers are in the market for a wide receiver.

And we’re not just talking about a camp body, here. They’ve signed enough of those in recent weeks.

No, San Francisco is searching for someone who can actually play a role on this team come the regular season.

According to multiple media reports, San Francisco has been working the phone lines trying to swing a trade for a wide-out. They reportedly missed out on former Houston Texan, now Philadelphia Eagle, John Metchie earlier this week.

If the Niners can strike a deal is one question.

But the fact that they’re on the prowl answers another:

No, the Niners do not, in fact, feel good about the state of their wide receiver room.

That’s a bit of a departure from where this team — or at least its head coach — stood a few weeks back.

“It’s a challenge,” Kyle Shanahan said of the team’s lack of trustworthy receivers. “There are lots of things that tie to that, who’s available, how much they’re available for, and the situation our team’s in, salary cap-wise, and what we can do. But yeah, we’re looking into everything. We’ll always try to do the best, but try not to just panic and do something to survive a tough situation at the expense of what would really hurt you later in this year and definitely next year.”

But it sure seems as if the Niners are panicking a bit.

And I don’t blame them. This situation is looking more and more dire by the day.

Let’s take inventory:

This team’s top receiver is Ricky Pearsall, in his second season and first, honest-to-goodness NFL training camp. If not for his emergence as a viable go-to option, the Niners would be operating at Defcon 1 right now.

Let’s call this situation at hand Defcon 2, as in this team lacks a No. 2 receiver at least for the first three weeks of the campaign. A vital three weeks, it should be noted, as there are two division games in that span.

The Niners can trust Pearsall, but they cannot trust that last season’s No. 1, Jauan Jennings, will come back into the fold anytime soon. Calf injuries are finicky, and the risk of an Achilles rupture from them is dramatically high. Seeing as this is the same calf he injured last season, there’s no timetable for his return this summer.

The team needed him back yesterday, but with less than three weeks until the Niners’ season opener in Seattle — that’s eight, maybe nine practices remaining — the most Jennings has shown in public is some walking around on a side field Tuesday. That doesn’t suggest that he’ll be out there against the Seahawks.

We know that Brandon Aiyuk won’t be activated until temperatures drop in the Bay, and there’s no indication that DeMarcus Robinson will avoid a three-game suspension following a November 2024 DUI. Shanahan said earlier this month that Robinson is in an “appeal process,” but seeing as he pled no-contest in July to a charge that carries an automatic NFL suspension, it’s difficult to imagine a circumstance where he’s able to avoid or even limit punishment.

Rookie Jordan Watkins has a high ankle sprain that is likely to keep him out until at least September.

Then came Jacob Cowing’s latest injury. Cowing returned to practice last week after a hamstring sprain that sidelined him for the first three-plus weeks of camp, and then he picked up another hamstring injury in Tuesday’s practice.

Cowing hadn’t done anything worthy of note in his limited practice time, but after a good mini-camp and OTA stretch, there was some optimism he could leap in Year 2 of his NFL career.

Let’s all take a moment to wave goodbye to that optimism. Cowing appears to be on the Drake Jackson track in Santa Clara.

And those are merely the issues that are known at the moment. Who knows what might have happened behind the scenes while I was writing this column?

As it stands, the Niners are left with a presumed Week 1 depth chart of Pearsall, Russell Gage, Isaiah Hodgins and rookie punt returner Junior Bergen. Even Pearsall looking like the truth and Gage and Hodgins proving to be helpful pros, that’s probably the worst receiver room in the NFL.

Of course, that state isn’t permanent, but the Niners’ constant state of flux at the position has made it clear: San Francisco cannot stand pat. General manager John Lynch needs to go get someone.

Ignore the big names at the position — the Niners aren’t looking for anything bold here; Aiyuk, Jennings, and Watkins are expected to play this year, after all. And if there were a viable free agent (Gabe Davis, Amari Cooper), they’d have been signed by now.

But here’s some good news: the trade market is robust this time of year, and if you’re looking for a depth receiver — a dependable pro you can keep on your roster for 17 weeks — there are decent options that won’t cost anything more than a forgettable Day 3 draft pick.

Seeing as the Niners can’t out and trade for Packers’ now-cornerback Bo Melton (yes, they changed his position and it’s apparently going well), there are three names I suspect are at the top of the 49ers’ attainable wish list:

1. Kendrick Bourne, New England

Bourne has been injured since Aug. 1. He already sounds like a Niner, no? But in his time sidelined, the Pats’ new coaching staff has gotten a good look at their young stable of receivers. I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to move on from Bourne, who has two years left on his three-year, $19 million contract, but has no guaranteed money this year or next. The Niners would need strong assurances that Bourne is healthy and ready to play, but given his history with Shanahan, a late-August transition shouldn’t hold back a trade. I bet he’d only cost a forgettable pick swap.

2. Rakim Jarrett, Tampa Bay

The Bucs have a strong receiver room, and the unsurprising emergence of rookie Emeka Egbuka has left a handful of more experienced players expendable. Between Jarrett and Trey Palmer, I’d bet on Jarrett, a former five-star recruit whose limitations in Tampa have been tied to injury, not performance. The Niners have enough blocking in the receiver room — they need someone with the ability to make a big play from the X receiver spot. Jarrett might be able to do just that. The Niners missed out on Metchie, but Jarrett is a nice consolation prize.

3. Mecole Hardman, Green Bay

The former Chief signed a modest contract with the Packers this offseason, only to see the Packers’ receiver room become the deepest in the NFL (don’t confuse that with best) with two early draft picks, including first-rounder Matthew Golden, added in the subsequent weeks. Hardman seems limited to punt returner in Green Bay, and it wouldn’t be surprising if both parties agreed to part before the start of the season. For the Niners, Hardman can be another gadget player to complement Pearsall (who will be picking up a lot of what remains of the Deebo Samuel playbook). Seeing as Hardman has burned the 49ers every time they’ve played, I’d have to presume he’s held in high regard in Santa Clara. The real hold-up here would be the unlikeness of a Packers-49ers trade. Rivals rarely do deals.