Maxx Crosby, 2 other perfect trade targets 49ers can go after by deadline

The NFL's annual fire sales began in earnest on Tuesday, with two major players moving to would-be contenders in deals made by teams who already seem to be writing off the season.

While the San Francisco 49ers ultimately weren't involved in trading for wide receiver Davante Adams (who went to the New York Jets from the Las Vegas Raiders), nor former rumored offseason trade target Amari Cooper (who swapped the Cleveland Browns for the Buffalo Bills), the team has traditionally been active at the trade deadline under general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan's direction.

That's ranged from blockbuster trades, like the 2022 acquisition of running back Christian McCaffrey, to ring-chasing rentals like defensive end Chase Young, defensive end Randy Gregory, and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, to picking up mid-tenured role players like defenders Jordan Willis and Charles Omenihu.

With the Niners having some well-documented injury issues, particularly on the defensive line, now could be the moment to snag another undervalued player from a team willing to sell.

Let's take a look at some possibilities.

Maxx Crosby

I can almost guarantee that every single person's eyes bulged upon reading the headline to this piece, because Raiders pass-rusher Maxx Crosby would be a huge acquisition, on the level of McCaffrey, for San Francisco and would give the team's pass rush a huge shot in the arm down the stretch.

Could the 49ers really make it happen? It's difficult, but not insurmountable. It relies on the Raiders being in the mood to do two things.

Firstly, they'd have to have a desire to make a trade with their traditional rival in the 49ers even though they are no longer across the Bay Bridge. This has been something that's reared its head in the past -- Khalil Mack stated last year that he thought the Raiders stood in the way of him arriving in Santa Clara -- so it's not necessarily an easy hurdle to clear.

Secondly, the Raiders would have to want to trade Crosby, and while they acquiesced to Adams' trade request, Crosby has yet to submit one. While he hasn't quite scotched trade rumors, he did push back against some rumor-mongering following the team's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Still, given the Raiders' predicament, and with them already having cap space and picks to start what seems to be an inevitable rebuild in the offseason, you can't yet rule out a full fire sale in Vegas.

Crosby would be a perfect bookend to edge Nick Bosa. Not only is the former another fearsome pass-rusher, but he's a strong player against the run and an emotional defensive leader. Acquiring him would force teams to focus less on stopping Bosa, as well as upgrading the defensive line rotation to such a degree that free-agent signing Leonard Floyd could be allowed to get some rest and be used more in spot duty.

The Niners have also historically valued depth at defensive line anyway (think of the "Alpha" and "Bravo" sets defensive line coach Kris Kocurek likes to have at his disposal -- so any addition of a talented rusher would go a long way towards helping with that, particularly as the 49ers stare down games against the likes of the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who all have threatening passing offenses.

With him standing at 5.5 sacks through five games and having a substantial body of top-class work behind him (never obtaining less than seven sacks in a season), if Crosby does hit the market, there will surely be a land rush to obtain him.

But then, there was for McCaffrey, too, and the 49ers proved they could get that done back in 2022.

Travon Walker

This trade feels firmly in the wheelhouse of the likes of the Gregory and Young trades of the recent past: a young player (Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Travon Walker is 24 in December), drafted highly (the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft), who is possibly slightly underperforming expectations on a struggling team.

This armchair general manager stuff is easy.

In all seriousness, there probably isn't an organisation as lacking in direction as the Jags are right now. Head coach Doug Pederson's seat seems to get hotter every week (he'll likely be anxiously checking he has return travel booked from London following the team's limp surrender against the Chicago Bears, with the New England Patriots looming), while no one has to tell a Niners fan about Trent Baalke's drafting and player acquisition peccadillos, given he was GM of the team from 2011 to 2016.

With the suggestion that Baalke may be on the hotseat along with his coach, would Jacksonville look to trade one of its centerpiece draft picks?

It's certainly possible, as while Walker has played relatively well in Jacksonville, recording 10 sacks last season (and five so far this season), he's yet to truly show the game-changing ability at the edge that an organisation would crave from the first overall draft pick, especially considering the Detroit Lions' Aidan Hutchinson went directly after him in the draft and has proven to be one of the best pass-rushers in the league.

With a decision upcoming on Walker's fifth-year option, and the reset button about to be pressed again in Jacksonville, there's every chance the team would be interested in moving on rather than sinking more costs into a pick and draft philosophy that has so far failed to produce any meaningful results.

He'd fit right in on the 49ers, where his youthful energy and pass-rush ability would make for a very useful addition to a roster that needs to get both better and younger at multiple spots. If the Niners then couples his raw talent with the intensive coaching of Kocurek, they could round off Walker's rougher edges and help him live up to his draft billing.

Perhaps acquiring him would also reduce the need for the Niners to dip into next year's draft pool of defensive linemen to restock the position.

If Walker does become available, expect there to be a good-sized market. It would not be a surprise at all if the Lions pitched in for him, too, ironically to replace the now-seriously injured Hutchinson who was drafted one pick after him.

This feels like a realistic trade for the 49ers, though, as it matches the kinds of moves they often make in midseason and at the edge position.

Haason Reddick

We round off with the least exciting, but perhaps likeliest, move available.

New York Jets pass-rusher Haason Reddick has been one of a million negative stories in the Big Apple through the first few weeks of the season. Despite Gang Green only acquiring him in April via a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, Reddick has been unhappy almost since he arrived, failing to report for training camp and holding out publicly for a better contract, something New York has refused to grant.

Following the firing of former 49ers defensive coordinator, turned-Jets head coach Robert Saleh, and multiple other changes in the organisation, Reddick has now been permitted to seek a trade and presumably gets dealt within the next few days, as the NFL's trade market hots up.

It's easy to see him drawing interest. While he's rarely played at a level of absolute consistency, his ability to get to the quarterback is not in doubt. He's recorded 50.5 of his career 58 sacks in the last four seasons, split over his time with the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, and his aforementioned stint with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was also a major part of the Eagles' 2022 playoff run, recording 3.5 sacks during knockout football.

The 49ers would obviously be interested in someone of that caliber, if only because it allows other contenders not to get their hands on him (and for the team, therefore, to potentially have to face him again in the playoffs), while also, again, strengthening and area of significant need.

Two things might give the 49ers pause. Firstly, that this is now the third franchise he's sulked out of (does the Niners' team chemistry need his volatilty adding to the mix?), and secondly, he's seeking a well-paid long term deal, which San Francisco is unlikely to give anyone at this juncture following recent payouts to McCaffrey, left tackle Trent Williams, and infamously, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. It's even less likely the Niners would give it to someone they acquire at midseason, particularly when the some of their developed young players are waiting in the wings.

That said, the 49ers do have a good relationship with Reddick's agent, the famed Drew Rosenhaus, and it's possible the pass-rusher could raise his free agency value by doing a productive short-term rental in the Bay Area, as Chase Young tried to do last season.

Certainly, sitting at home not playing football is not helping his likely value in the free-agent market.

If the 49ers did acquire Reddick, it'd potentially be a true boom-or-bust rental: either something on the level of Gregory, who failed to impress or improve his value in his short tenure with San Francisco last season. Or at the opposite end of the scale, Reddick could be the missing piece to the defense, as the famous Fred Dean was to Bill Walsh's 1981 Niners.

And we all know what happened there.

Who would you like to see the 49ers trade for?

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