The San Francisco 49ers may have some work to do to shore up some key areas of their roster.
Final cuts are due at 1:00pm Pacific Time on Tuesday, and a quick run through of their potential 53-man roster exposes a couple of areas where depth is a real problem for the 49ers. On the other hand, there are a couple spots where they have excess talent and may have to let go of an NFL-caliber player.
Those two things may lead the 49ers to get active in the trade market early in the season.
Let’s start at quarterback where Josh Dobbs and Brandon Allen both made strong cases to be the team’s backup signal caller. It’s hard to envision San Francisco letting one of them go since they’d likely get scooped up to another team’s 53-man roster.
Perhaps the 49ers want to keep three QBs. However, reliable QB play is scarce enough in the NFL that one of Dobbs or Allen could fetch a decent return in a trade where San Francisco lets one of them go.
Running back is another position where the 49ers could execute a trade. If Jordan Mason has passed Elijah Mitchell on the depth chart, it doesn’t leave any kind of role for Mitchell since he doesn’t contribute on special teams. In that event, the 49ers could aim to move their 2021 sixth-round pick and roll with Christian McCaffrey, Mason, and rookies Isaac Guerendo and Cody Schrader since they can both take on special teams roles.
Mitchell has been a good player for the 49ers when he’s been healthy, but availability has been a problem throughout his NFL career. It was a problem again this offseason when he missed a big chunk of camp because of a hamstring injury. Head coach Kyle Shanahan trusts him, which may be enough to earn a roster spot, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the 49ers try and move him for a draft pick.
Linebacker is the final spot where the 49ers may have a trade chip available. If they keep six LBs on their 53-man roster, it still leaves out one of Dee Winters, Jalen Graham, Curtis Robinson or Tatum Bethune. San Francisco may just try cutting one and getting them to the practice squad, but they could also move one for a late-round draft pick.
We saw them execute a similar move with undrafted rookie Jonas Griffith in 2021. San Francisco dealt Griffith to the Broncos with a seventh-round pick in exchange for a sixth-round pick. Don’t be surprised if that’s the ultimate solution to the 49ers’ glut of LB options.
Moving on from players for late-round picks is nice for next year, but the 49ers may also need to get active in bringing in players.
Their depth at defensive end is rough, and more help there is going to be necessary at some point this season. They’ll likely scour the waiver wire as final cuts start rolling in to see if they can swipe a player without having to trade for one.
They should be on the phone before that though to eliminate other teams from the equation. If they can find a pass rusher that’s going to get cut, and they can trade a late pick for them, they should do so.
At this point of the year that trade isn’t going to land them a Pro Bowler. Their sudden injury issues at DE lower the bar for what they need at the position though. With Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos both working through knee sprains, San Francisco is dangerously thin at DE. Perhaps they love their in-house options, but adding another body or two at the position definitely wouldn’t hurt with a couple weeks to go until the regular season.