San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan had every right to be frustrated after his team was wholly outplayed by the Houston Texans in Week 8, dropping a 26-15 road bout in which his offense failed to secure a first down until the waning moments of the first half.
At 5-3, the Niners suddenly find themselves dropping from the No. 2 seed into the final Wild Card spot, and it doesn't help the rest of the NFC West (save the Arizona Cardinals) entered the week with identical 5-2 records.
Combined with the swarm of injuries that only continued for San Francisco at NRG Stadium, one would figure Shanahan and general manager John Lynch would actively be working the phones to pull off some sort of trade between now and the Nov. 4 trade deadline.
Rumors and reports suggest Lynch has been active, yes.
But, the 49ers' trade strategy might not be what most fans think, and even Shanahan's postgame presser suggested as much in a roundabout way.
49ers may not be thinking short-term at NFL trade deadline
During that postgame presser, Shanahan was asked whether or not the loss to Houston would impact his squad's plans at the NFL trade deadline.
"Nothing changes anything," Shanahan responded. "It has to do with what's available out there, and does it help us this year, does it help us next year. Usually, as things get closer, you get a little more idea on who's real and who's not, and we'll evaluate that for the short term and long term."
Having seen over eight years of Shanahan press conferences, including plenty in person from 2018 through 2020, the head coach's comments about trade-deadline material have mostly followed the pattern of "we're always looking to improve."
This go-around, the part about helping "this year" and "next year" is a pretty significant clue.
Shanahan even included the part about evaluating the "short term and long term," which is pretty much saying the quiet part out loud: San Francisco isn't going to send away valuable trade assets for a short-term rental-type player who can potentially help down the stretch but will hit the open market this offseason with zero intention of being re-signed.
With reports on how teams looking to move edge rushers (a key 49ers need) are already asking for premium compensation, one might conclude Shanahan, Lynch and the Niners won't be interested unless the would-be pickup winds up hanging around into 2026.
Based on this, don't expect the Niners to commit to some high-profile rental player who'd be a free agent the following March.
Shanahan effectively said as much.