The San Francisco 49ers are in a position where they almost have to make a trade for an edge rusher.
Amidst the Las Vegas Raiders’ losing streak, the rumors have started to swirl that Maxx Crosby would be available for the right price. Mo Moton of Bleacher Report connected the two together and came up with a potential trade for the 49ers.
Las Vegas Raiders Get: 2026 1st-round pick, 2026 4th-round pick, 2027 1st-round pick, 2027 5th-round pick, WR Jauan Jennings
San Francisco 49ers Get: Edge Maxx Crosby
The 49ers need help on defense. Nick Bosa and Fred Warner suffered season-ending injuries.
Why not swing for the fences while older offensive veterans Trent Williams and Christian McCaffrey are healthy on a team that’s atop its division? By the way, San Francisco has $23 million in cap space.
– Mo Moton
On paper, this is everything the 49ers need. Trey Hendrickson is coming off the best season of his career, a year in which he came in second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting, and still, it is almost unanimous that Maxx Crosby is the better player.
To start, Crosby is two years younger. He will also fetch a bigger draft return because his contract status is much more figured out than Hendrickson’s. Still, the reason Crosby is so highly sought after is that he not only provides the pressures and sacks, but he is a culture-setting player.
Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby (98). / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
Week in and week out, Crosby carries the Raiders’ defense. He faces all of the attention, and he almost never takes snaps off. Tipped passes, taking up blocks to free other rushers, you name it, Crosby does it.
Still, the question is whether this is worth it for the 49ers. Jauan Jennings has been a complete dud this season, and the team will likely be looking to move on. Jennings, plus the day three picks are not the issue. The question is whether San Francisco can afford to miss on two first-round picks just to add Crosby.
They would be better this year, but their cap situation would get a lot tighter moving forward. Then, they would have to figure out what to do with Nick Bosa and his contract upon his return. First-round picks are valuable because they are talented players, but more than that, they are on cost-controlled contracts.
Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
A team with as many big contracts as San Francisco needs to hit on these picks to fill the backbone of the roster, or they will be too thin moving forward.
The 49ers can afford to give up some cap space; they can afford to give up some picks. They cannot afford to give up a lot of both, though. If they think they can win the Super Bowl this year, it may be worth it. However, if they do not, they need the health of this team to turn around quickly, or they will not have enough depth in the future.
