Vikings trade Gerald Hodges for 49ers’ Nick Easton and draft pick

Hodges has 20 tackles through the first 4 games of the season, but zero sacks and zero tackles for loss.

The 49ers made out pretty well, considering ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan reported earlier in the day they planned on waiving Easton outright.

A former fourth-round pick out of Penn State, Hodges won the Vikings starting Mike linebacker spot this preseason but Mike Zimmer has preferred to pull him out in the nickel defense in favor of rookie Eric Kendricks. He started seven of the 14 games in which he appeared last season for Minnesota. The Vikings confirmed the move, announcing they acquired backup center Nick Easton and a sixth-round pick as part of the deal.

Easton, 23, is an undrafted rookie who signed with Baltimore and was traded to the 49ers in September.

Hodges and Easton must pass physicals for the trade to be executed.

Hodges started at middle linebacker for the Vikings and joins an inside linebacking group with the Niners that includes Navorro Bowman, Michael Wilhoite, Shayne Skov and Nick Bellore.

San Francisco, meanwhile, has been thin at linebacker since the offseason retirements of Patrick Willis and Chris Borland. Center Marcus Martin, a 2014 third-round pick, has struggled while starting the first four games.