The NFL trade deadline is on November 1. It's the last chance for teams to try to improve their rosters by dealing players with one another, getting ready for the final stretch of the regular season. The San Francisco 49ers will have just played the Los Angeles Rams and be entering their bye week when the deadline arrives, so they'll have a good idea of any glaring roster needs.
Right now, head coach Kyle Shanahan isn't thinking about the trade deadline. He is trying to get the 49ers to 4-2 coming out of a two-game East Coast road trip. So the coach is leaving the pre-trade scouting work to other capable hands.
"That's left to [general manager] John [Lynch], and everyone that is working with him, and the personnel department," Shanahan told NBC Sports Bay Area this week from The Greenbrier in West Virginia.
The team is focused on their upcoming opponent, the Atlanta Falcons, not hypothetical scenarios that remain weeks away.
"I mean, it's stuff that John and I will talk about," Shanahan continued, "just where we're light, what we see going forward, guys with injuries coming back or not coming back. So you've kind of got to map that all out. But it's definitely not something I look into.
"They try to get all the options out there, and sometimes there's options, sometimes there's not. So it doesn't mean, just because you have issues, you can go get someone. But every once in a while, the stars align, something could work. Hopefully, if there is something that can help us, we'll figure that out."
In 2017, Shanahan and Lynch's first year with the 49ers, they traded for New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo before the deadline. The following season, San Francisco was quiet as the trade deadline approached and passed.
"The fact that we didn't do anything means there wasn't an option to improve ourselves," Shanahan said after the 2018 trade deadline.
In 2019, the 49ers traded for Denver Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, a move that helped the team reach the Super Bowl. At the 2020 deadline, San Francisco traded linebacker Kwon Alexander to the New Orleans Saints, shortly after acquiring New York Jets defensive end Jordan Willis.
Last year, the 49ers traded for Houston Texans pass rusher Charles Omenihu, who is tied for third on the team with two sacks (Drake Jackson also has two) and second to defensive end Nick Bosa with six quarterback hits this season.
