The San Francisco 49ers have had a very solid start to the 2025 season. They have a 4-1 record and sit atop the NFC West, but head coach Kyle Shanahan seemed to pump the brakes on high expectations for this team.
Shanahan was asked whether he felt the 2025 Niners are in a similar spot to the 2019 squad that also began the season strong and added wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders as they looked to make a run for the NFC West.
The coach's answer was a reveal on how he thinks about the current team:
Kyle Shanahan was asked if the 49ers 4-1 record increases his trade interest:
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) October 8, 2025
“Not really. What increases my interest is who is the guy who can absolutely help us get better this year without hurting us next year and you balance both of those out. But there’s gotta be a guy… pic.twitter.com/RNx2Di4SuT
If you cannot access the post, this is what Shanahan said:
"No. I don’t feel at all like that. I think at that time we had a Super Bowl defense that was as good as anyone in the league and had probably been for like 10 years, and it was pretty obvious. I thought some of the receivers we were depending on weren’t there, and we were playing some rookies and we thought we needed to add another guy."
Clearly, the Niners felt like they were just one move away from being real contenders in 2019, which is what prompted the trade for Sanders. It turned out to be a great move as the team won the NFC West, clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference, and made it to the Super Bowl and would have won if not for a late collapse.
This time, it's difficult to say the 49ers are just one move away. General manager John Lynch has said he has had trade discussions on pass-rushers who could help replace Nick Bosa after his season-ending knee injury.
Maybe San Francisco could land a big name like Trey Hendrickson or Bradley Chubb to help out with a pass rush that has been very limited ever since Bosa went down, but there are other potential holes on the roster.
Still, the Niners have to prove they are good enough to warrant a big trade like that, which would require giving up valuable draft capital. To do that, Shanahan and Co. have to keep winning games, and that starts with beating Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Shanahan's comments are revealing, though, because they do get to the heart of something that many 49ers fans may not want to admit: We do not know if this Niners group is really good yet. Sure, they have a 4-1 record, but they could just as easily be 1-4 or 2-3, had some things gone against them.
All of their games have been incredibly tight, each one being a one-score game, and it is a miracle the Niners have won four of them with how banged up and injured they have been on both sides of the ball.
If the wins keep on coming, the front office may have no choice but to reward the team by making a big move. Lynch certainly has not been afraid to make a splash in the past.
But if San Francisco loses a couple of games and limps into the trade deadline, then reinforcements should probably not be expected.