Could the Niners swing a trade for the superstar defensive lineman?
The San Francisco 49ers are heading into the offseason looking to upgrade a couple of spots on their roster, with the defensive line arguably being the most prevalent.
The team is well-positioned to add talent to the position at the moment, as they currently have the No. 11 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. But, there are veteran options to acquire as well, with Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett being the most popular name as of late.
Ahead of the Super Bowl, Garrett publicly requested a trade from the Browns, citing a difference in philosophies with the front office and a desire to win. The 49ers were immediately linked to the star, as they have ample draft capital and a need for good defensive linemen.
But, is the move realistic for the franchise? One insider doesn’t think so.
NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco shared his thoughts and opinions on the 49ers being linked to Garrett, sharing pessimism that a trade would make sense for the franchise.
“[Trading for] Myles Garrett, the more I think about it, I don’t know that it makes a whole lot of sense for the 49ers from the standpoint of the draft,” Maiocco said. “Pick compensation is one thing and there are reasons why it does not behoove the 49ers to give up draft pick compensation.
“I do think that the roster was set back immensely by the Trey Lance trade and giving up those first-round draft picks. Yes, they got Brock Purdy the next draft and that ended up being kind of an organization saver getting Brock Purdy. But the 49ers missed some opportunities to add some really high-level talent through that trade to move up to No. 3 in the 2021 Draft to select Trey Lance. What it’s also done is it’s kind of stripped the 49ers of some opportunities to add good players, defensive linemen, for instance. Maybe an offensive lineman at controlled cost.”
The Niners had been loading up on defensive linemen in the early rounds of drafts throughout the Kyle Shanahan era. But obviously, with the Trey Lance trade, some of those early-round picks were gone. Add in the fact that the team spent extensive draft capital to trade for Christian McCaffrey and there were even fewer draft picks to work with.
“The 49ers have so many high-priced players as it is,” Maiocco continued. “When you just think about, I mean, just ticking it through, I mean, Brock Purdy will become one of them, but there’s Christian McCaffrey, there’s George Kittle, there’s Trent Williams, there’s Brandon Aiyuk. Debo Samuel was one, and he’ll probably be gone after he requested a trade.”
“Nick Bosa, high priced player. Fred Warner is a high-priced player. Deommodore Lenoir enters that realm after he signed his extension last offseason. So I just don’t know that the 49ers could or should add a player that I would assume Myles Garrett will want a new contract.”
Garrett has only two years left on his five-year, $125 million deal with the Browns entering his age-30 season. So, a new contract would make sense, providing the 49ers with yet another top-of-the-market contract to deal with, not to mention the cost it’d take to acquire the star (likely at least one first-round pick).
“He said all the right things in his statement about why he wants out of Cleveland. He wants to win a championship, but I would assume he would also want a new contract with that,” Maiocco said. “And if Myles Garrett signs a new contract at this stage in his career, with what he’s done, I would think that he would become the highest-paid defensive player in the league. So can the 49ers really take that on?
“I think there’s one thing that, you know, watching the Eagles, heck, watching the Rams, teams can add young defensive linemen and the hit rate is very high on young defensive linemen as long as they stay healthy as far as being able to step in and make an immediate contribution.”
Looking ahead to the upcoming draft, what the 49ers do have is capital from top to bottom. Could they instead use that to bolster their defensive line room?
“They could take a defensive lineman at number 11. Whatever they decide to do there, they have the ability to bring in some really good talent along the defensive line because they do have seven picks in the first four rounds of the draft,” Maiocco said.
“If they add two defensive linemen, wherever it is within those 138 picks. Those guys should be upgrades. Those guys should fit in as part of the rotation, which would bump two guys off, which immediately makes that defensive line better. And that’s probably the area where the 49ers suffered the most through that trade of Trey Lance, is that they weren’t able to stack defensive linemen upon defensive linemen and just keep that rotation. The reason I really like the idea of drafting defensive linemen early in drafts is because the hit rate is so high.
“You don’t need a defensive lineman coming in as a rookie to be one of your top four defensive linemen in order to make an impact. As long as he is in the top eight, there’s a rotation and you can just come at a team in waves. The Philadelphia Eagles did that Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. They overwhelmed the Kansas City Chiefs offensive line. They never blitzed in that game. Vic Fangio, for all his genius, the best part of what he did on Sunday in Super Bowl was that he stayed out of the way. It was four-man rush after four-man rush after four-man rush. They lined up and they just kicked the butts of the Kansas City Chiefs. And he was able to do that by having nine defensive linemen active for that game.”
The 49ers have a big chance here to not only bolster the room now, but add talent for the future as well that can solidify the group for years to come. But, talents like Garrett don’t come along very often. That leads to a tough discussion this offseason at a major position of need.