49ers news: Biggest winners, losers from 2021 NFL trade deadline
By Peter Panacy
![Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/7dc06b307e39576c149ac9c46e6dc52e21522871980500b03a54681e071b0838.jpg)
49ers Loser: EDGE Arden Key
Charles Omenihu’s presence on San Francisco’s depth chart likely ends up taking the roster spot previously held by Javon Kinlaw, although there’s a ripple effect that’ll impact some of the 49ers’ other pass-rushers.
In a sense, one could make the argument two edge rushers wind up emerging as losers because of the transaction, Samson Ebukam and Arden Key. And while Ebukam has been a notable disappointment despite registering his first sack of the year in Week 8, the nature of his two-year, $12 million contract likely keeps him safely on the roster. And, at the very least, in a position where he can hope to make a second-half impact in 2021.
The same can’t be said for Key, though, who impressed during training camp and the preseason but has since become something of a forgotten commodity, which didn’t get better after the Niners got depth EDGE Jordan Willis back from the reserve/suspended list.
And especially after the acquisition of Omenihu.
Key, whose collegiate talents at LSU once prompted the possibility of him being a first-round NFL Draft choice, saw his hopes flame out with the Las Vegas Raiders before joining San Francisco during the offseason.
Now, it’s looking as if those hopes for a bounce-back will have to take place somewhere else.