It’s clear after eight weeks that the San Francisco 49ers’ roster, as currently constructed, isn’t a viable Super Bowl contender.
Injuries have played a role, to be sure, but the 49ers badly need help at multiple positions if they’re going to make a run after their Week 9 Bye.
Unfortunately for the 49ers, they won’t have another game before the Nov. 5 trade deadline. They know everything they’re going to know about their roster by the time the deadline passes, save for how running back Christian McCaffrey will respond as he ramps up to return from his Achilles tendinitis.
San Francisco has been aggressive in the trade market in the past, and it’s time for them to hit the gas pedal again.
The Kansas City Chiefs, a Super Bowl contender, have already acquired wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins from the Tennessee Titans and edge rusher Josh Uche from the New England Patriots. Hopkins was available for a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2025 draft. Uche was had for a 2026 sixth-round selection.
Perhaps San Francisco wasn’t looking for a receiver of Hopkins’s caliber, but they need edge help and Uche would have been an upgrade over a player like Robert Beal.
Elsewhere in the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens bolstered their receiving corps by sending a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for WR Diontae Johnson and a 2025 sixth-round pick.
In the NFC, the Minnesota Vikings lost left tackle Christian Darrisaw to a season-ending knee injury. They filled that gaping hole by dealing a conditional 2026 fifth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for left tackle Cam Robinson and a conditional seventh-round pick.
These are Super Bowl contenders that have identified areas of weakness on their rosters and sent out relatively limited draft capital to buttress them. If the 49ers want to be in that group, they should be acting now before other contenders start scooping up available contributors.
