OK, the 49ers traded for Keion White, a young defensive end with some burst who got buried with the New England Patriots.
Now what? Are they finished?
With the Tuesday afternoon trade deadline looming, Niners general manager John Lynch might put the phone down as some injured front-line players trickle back into the mix. While Nick Bosa is out for the season, Bryce Huff is expected back next week, and Yetur Gross-Matos is going to test his knee and hamstring out at practice over the next couple of days.
“I’ll never say never, because we still have some time left on this deadline, but we’re also in a situation where we want to keep our draft (picks),” Lynch told KNBR on his weekly show Thursday morning. “We just saw what we could do with a lot of draft picks, and we have that next year as well, and we don’t want to eat into that too much.
“We wanted to bolster our team for this year, and we feel like we’ve done that, while also getting (Bryce) Huff back at some point here. It can become a good group.”
Maybe Lynch is just trying to lull other GMs into thinking he’s not desperate, even though his team has a total of five sacks in the six games since Bosa got hurt. It’s also possible the landscape changes again following Sunday’s game at MetLife Stadium, which has taken its toll on the 49ers’ roster in the past.
So we went ahead and came up with five deals that make sense.
A fourth-round pick for Atlanta Falcons DE Arnold Ebiketie
Yes, the 49ers added two defensive ends — White and practice squadder Clelin Ferrell — to the locker room in the last few days, but an argument can be made that they’re still lacking at the position.
White and Ferrell are bigger-bodied linemen, with Ferrell excelling as a base-down end when he was with San Francisco in 2023 but not as a pass rusher (3 1/2 sacks in 471 snaps). White’s best third-down role, meanwhile, is rushing from the inside the way former 49ers Arden Key and Charles Omenihu did in the past and how Mykel Williams and Gross-Matos are now.
With Bosa out for the season and Huff out for one more game, the team lacks explosive edge rushers, which is Ebiketie’s forte. He’s a 250-pounder who had six sacks in each of the last two seasons but has been moved to the side in Atlanta in favor of rookie pass rushers James Pearce Jr. and Jalon Walker.
While Ebiketie is a good scheme fit, he’s in the final year of his rookie contract. That is, unless the 49ers are willing to extend him. He could be a short-term rental.
#49ers‘ projected 2026 draft picks:
– Round 1
– Round 2
– Round 3
– Round 4#
– Round 4*
– Round 4*
– Round 4*
– Round 7
* Projected comp pick
# The 5th-rd pick SF sent to Philly for Bryce Huff could become a 4th if he hits a certain number of sacks.
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) October 30, 2025
S Ji’Ayir Brown for a Day 3 pick
Though it’s hard to believe the injury-riddled 49ers have a glut at any position, they are deep at safety. In fact, their early-season starting safety duo — Jason Pinnock and Marques Sigle — has been entirely replaced by Brown and Malik Mustapha. They also have Siran Neal, a special teams ace, in reserve. Even Chase Lucas could play safety in a pinch.
If they were to move one of them, Brown seems to be the likeliest candidate. The former Penn State safety was considered one of the top players at his position in the 2023 draft and ended up going in the third round. The 49ers and Baltimore Ravens hosted him on formal visits, and the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers had formal interviews at the scouting combine.
The Steelers and Ravens recently traded for safeties, so they’re probably out of the running. The Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs and Patriots, meanwhile, remain light at the position.
What could the 49ers get for Brown? Probably nothing more than a Day 3 pick. That, however, might interest the 49ers, considering how few late-round selections they have in the upcoming draft. A sixth-rounder, for example, could help them trade for an edge rusher. Or perhaps Brown could be used directly in a trade. Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks was San Francisco’s defensive coordinator when the 49ers drafted Brown, and he remains a fan.
RB Isaac Guerendo for Dolphins DE Matthew Judon
The price tag on the more-interesting Bradley Chubb is not steep at all — the prorated amount of the veteran’s minimum, thanks to a reworked contract — but the problem is the incentives and bonuses written back into the contract for snaps played and sacks. No good.
Jaelen Phillips is three years younger than Chubb and out of our price range. That leaves us with Judon, who is 33 and doesn’t have a sack this season but had 15.5 for the Patriots in 2022. Give him 20 snaps a game and hope something clicks.
As for Guerendo, the Niners drafted Jordan James to take his place as the No. 2 RB, and when James got hurt, they traded for Brian Robinson Jr. Guerendo really has no role, and he isn’t even returning kickoffs anymore.
Guerendo for Tennessee Titans DE Arden Key
We’re not actively trying to move Guerendo; it’s just that the 49ers don’t have any fifth- or sixth-round picks next year to deal.
Lynch has said he is looking for players who are “not just a rental,” and old friend Key is exactly that: a short-term depth fix. The former 49er is in the last year of a three-year deal signed with the previous Titans regime. Key, 29, has missed some time with a quadriceps injury, but odds are he gets healthier in a few days, and he has 1 1/2 sacks in five games after recording 12 1/2 the last two seasons combined.
Trade for a Jets edge rusher
No trade acquisition is better equipped to quickly get up to speed in a Robert Saleh-coached defense than someone drafted by the man himself.
Jermaine Johnson, a first-round pick to the Jets in 2022, would be a good fit. He’s 26, he’s signed through 2026 and he had strong production — 7 1/2 sacks, 16 quarterback hits and 11 tackles for loss — in 2023, his last full season under Saleh. He’d be pricey, however. Could he be exchanged for Brown and a fourth-round pick?
An easier acquisition might be Micheal Clemons, a Jets fourth-rounder in 2022. He’s not signed for next season, and he’s never made a big splash as a pass rusher. But he’s a Saleh favorite and seems obtainable. Clemons for a sixth-round pick in 2027? Who says no?
