The San Francisco 49ers are in a weird place as the 2024 NFL trade deadline approaches.
They entered this year hoping to make another Super Bowl run, and their 4-4 record has them in the thick of the playoff race as the get to their Week 9 Bye. On the other hand, San Francisco through eight weeks hasn’t looked like a Super Bowl contender, which makes the trade deadline an important point for them in the 2024 campaign.
While a big-time trade may be what the 49ers ultimately need to get over the hump, don’t expect them to push all their chips in for a run this season.
The 49ers’ front office has been aggressive in making acquisitions since general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan took over. That’s especially true when they feel like such moves will help them win a Super Bowl. However, they’ve typically juxtaposed that ‘all-in’ mentality with an eye toward the future. There’s an immediate plan, but there’s also a longer term vision that includes the three-plus years down the road.
A longer-term vision may be what keeps them from unloading premium assets in a trade during a season where they’ve started 4-4.
The 49ers are in something of a transition period with their roster where the next three or four years will see an exodus of the core veterans that have kept their championship window open since the 2019 season. Players like left tackle Trent Williams, fullback Kyle Juszczyk and tight end George Kittle are reaching a point where they won’t be substantial parts of the team in three or four years. That job belongs to the likes of quarterback Brock Purdy, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, defensive end Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner. They represent a new core that would ideally throw open a new Super Bowl window.
That group will need the support of draft picks that will theoretically replace some of the exiting veterans.
In some ways the 49ers are already feeling the sting of losing three first-round picks in the Trey Lance trade before the 2021 draft. The lack of top-end depth has hurt them as veterans have gotten too expensive to keep and injuries have forced the club to dig deeper into their depth chart. That shrinks their margin for error with the selections that will help comprise their new core of players on a Super Bowl contender.
It’s hard to believe a team that’s generally so focused on the future will push all its chips in to try and make a run with this 2024 club.
Instead of using premium future draft capital, they’ll likely aim to shell out some later-round picks for depth along the defensive line, or wherever the team believes it most needs the assistance. That’ll allow them to thread the needle between trying to contend this year without mortgaging their future.
Some better depth at a couple of key spots combined with the impending return of reigning Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey should be enough to at least put the 49ers in the conversation when it comes to this year’s Super Bowl.
A big splash in the trade market would definitely put them there, but there’s too much at stake in the future for the 49ers to go make such a splash now.
