The San Francisco 49ers were already expected to be active as the trade deadline approached. However, the season-ending knee injury to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has sparked speculation that their position priorities may have shifted.
ESPN's Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler recently explored the NFL trade landscape and arrived at contrasting views regarding the 49ers. While one expert sees San Francisco eyeing a wide receiver ahead of the November 5 deadline, the other believes the team isn't necessarily feeling any heightened urgency within the organization to make a move.
"They are kind of in shock out there with all of these injuries that just won't stop," Graziano wrote. "The Niners are always active in-season when opportunities present themselves, and as usual, they have an extra third-round pick next year. So I could see them making a deal or two. A week ago, I'd have said I expected it to be for a defensive reinforcement of some sort, but with their wide receiver situation the way it is now, I wouldn't be surprised to see the 49ers in the market for one of the guys we discussed earlier."
Graziano referenced several potential trade targets, including Mike Williams of the New York Jets, Diontae Johnson and Jonathan Mingo of the Carolina Panthers, Darius Slayton of the New York Giants, Christian Kirk of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and even Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams—though an in-division trade for Kupp seems highly unlikely.
Graziano added, "They're only a game out of first place in the NFC West, and they know they're in the latter part of a championship-contending window with this aging roster, so I think they'll be aggressive in trying to save their season. But man, the Niners might have more problems than one trade deadline can solve."
Fowler, on the other hand, pointed out that some of the pass catchers the 49ers were interested in during Aiyuk's contract talks—like Davante Adams and Amari Cooper—are no longer on the market, which reduces the urgency for a blockbuster move.
"The 49ers are incredibly deep and more equipped than most to handle attrition," Fowler noted. "Aiyuk wasn't playing his best before the knee injury, so a combination of Jauan Jennings, Deebo Samuel Sr. and George Kittle can still get it done."
Fowler also highlighted running back Christian McCaffrey's potential return from Achilles tendinitis as a key factor that could ease some of the 49ers' offensive struggles.
"The people I've talked to with the organization felt good about McCaffrey's chances to start practicing during the Week 9 bye," Fowler added. "Linebacker Dre Greenlaw (Achilles) will also be back at some point after that. San Francisco's panic meter should be pretty low, though another loss might change that."
On Monday, head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked whether Aiyuk's injury might push the team toward making a trade to strengthen their wide receiver depth.
"Well, it makes you look into everything," Shanahan responded. "We try to look into everything regardless. Obviously, with more issues that came up yesterday, you still want to look into everything, but it has to do with what options are out there with stuff that we can pull off that doesn't totally hurt us, that helps us now, and doesn't hurt us for the future. There's lots of decisions that go into it."
Shanahan emphasized that the 49ers won't make a trade just for the sake of making one, noting that not every problem can be solved with a deal.
"Those answers aren't always out there," Shanahan said. "You've got to be ready to get people better in your building and deal with what you've got in your building. And if you ever find something that makes sense, we will never hesitate on it, but it's not always available like you hope it is."
