Defensive lineman? Check. Next on the 49ers’ shopping list: Wide receiver
Niners wide receiver Mike Evans, who missed the team’s game Sunday because of an injury, has been a key cog in the offense. But the team could use some help at the position and may address it via trade. (Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle)
On Monday, about 23 hours before the San Francisco 49ers traded for a defensive lineman, head coach Kyle Shanahan strongly suggested they could trade for a defensive lineman.
Asked about his team’s roster needs ahead of the Nov. 10 trade deadline, Shanahan didn’t deflect.
"The obvious injury spots to us have been receiver and D-line," Shanahan said. "We are getting a number of those guys back at both positions. But that also doesn’t exclude us from looking into something that would make sense to help us."
Clearly.
On Tuesday, the 49ers acquired Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner for a 2027 fourth-round pick. The obvious question: When will the new wide receiver be arriving?
That’s a joke. Sort of. The 49ers, at 6-1, with a roster filled with 30-something stars who don’t have limitless Super Bowl shots, sure seem serious about going all in for the franchise’s first title in 32 years.
They entered this week’s bye on the heels of their first loss, 29-20 at Atlanta in a game in which they dressed just four wide receivers for the first time since 2020. It wasn’t exactly a fearsome foursome. It consisted of Jordan Watkins and Jacob Cowing, unproven recent fourth-round draft picks, along with Brandin Cooks and Christan Kirk, veterans who might be running on fumes.
As Shanahan noted, they will be getting reinforcements. Mike Evans (Achilles tendinitis), Deebo Samuel (hamstring) and Demarcus Robinson (ankle) will all likely return in November and rookie second-round pick De’Zhaun Stribling (ankle) could be back in December.
Among that group, however, only Evans, 33, is a frontline wideout. And the 49ers have reasons to be concerned about the 13-year veteran’s availability. After dealing with quadriceps and groin injuries in training camp, Evans finished just four of the first six games due to two broken ribs and his unresolved Achilles issue.
Last week, Shanahan said he didn’t know how long Evans’ injury could linger when asked about ESPN’s Ian Rapoport stating Evans would have to "manage" his Achilles discomfort for "the better part of the season." General manager John Lynch offered a similar response Tuesday.
"I think with things like tendinitis, it can (linger)," Lynch said on KNBR. "But that’s why I think you take the time up front and you make sure you kind of have given it the best opportunity to be gone and stay gone. I think that’s all you can ask for. You listen to the experts on that …
"It’s hard for Mike to miss (games). He doesn’t like doing it, but he also understands the big picture: That we need him right. And we’ll make sure that he is before he returns."
The situation suggests Evans will welcome a newly acquired wideout to the locker room before he returns.
Lynch just did business with Colts interim GM Ed Dodds, who is managing his 2-5 team’s fire sale. Could they continue talking? On Wednesday, a day after Dodds dealt Buckner and All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson, Indianapolis wide receiver Josh Downs requested a trade.
Downs, 25, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, is a 5-foot-9, 171-pound slot receiver who averaged 66 catches for 713 yards with 11 touchdowns in his first three seasons. In 2026, Downs has 26 catches for 307 yards and no scores in seven games. The 49ers don’t have a traditional slot receiver. They envisioned such a role for the identically sized Cowing (5-9, 171), but the 2024 fourth-round pick has just eight career receptions.
Meanwhile, there are signs that the Jaguars are ready to part with wideout Brian Thomas, a 2024 first-round pick whose production has cratered since his 87-catch, 1,232-yard, 10-touchdown rookie season. Thomas (6-2, 209) has nine catches for 105 yards in six games this season and was benched during the second half of Jacksonville’s last game, a loss to the Texans in Week 6.
Asked about Thomas’ benching, head coach Liam Coen said: "Guys have to step up and make plays."
Thomas isn’t the only disappointing first-round pick who might be moved: The Chargers (0-6) could part with Quentin Johnston (6-2, 208), the No. 21 pick in 2023 who has eight catches in five games after he had a career-best 735 yards receiving last season.
The 49ers have a history of making notable deadline moves under Shanahan and Lynch. But they haven’t made two significant deals in the same season. That’s a reflection of their desire to sustain success, giving the 49ers a realistic title shot each season rather than mortgaging the future by parting with a host of draft picks in a deadline frenzy.
"We’ve never fully sold out for (one) year," Shanahan said in January 2025. "But we always want to be competitive."
The 49ers appeared to make an exception in 2022. They traded 2023 second-, third-, and fourth-round picks and a 2024 fifth-round pick for running back Christian McCaffrey. After the deal, they had just five 2023 picks, none in the first two rounds.
After dealing for Buckner this week, they have six 2027 picks, one in each round except for the fourth.
The point: Their 2022 four-pick blockbuster indicates Lynch and Shanahan could make another big trade before 1 p.m. on Nov. 10.
What position would they address with such a move? The defensive lineman deal got done. Shanahan might have also telegraphed the second step: Get ready to welcome a wideout?
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This article originally published at Defensive lineman? Check. Next on the 49ers’ shopping list: Wide receiver.
Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.