The San Francisco 49ers haven't been incredibly active to begin the 2026 NFL free agency period. Of course, they have very limited salary cap space, considering all the money they have tied up in the team's elite players, but they still managed to make a splash signing in Mike Evans.
How John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan planned on still improving this roster, which is still just a few pieces from making a legitimate run for a Lombardi Trophy, remained unclear. But the 49ers struck on Wednesday evening with a trade for Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa.
San Francisco is sending a 2026 third-round pick to Dallas in exchange for Odighizuwa and his fairly substantial contract. Let's take a look at the early winners and losers from the deal, which is sure to have a significant impact for the 49ers.
Winners and losers from 49ers' stunning Osa Odighizuwa trade
Winners
1. Osa Odighizuwa
Odighizuwa is entering his age-28 season and has a new lease on life. He'll get to play for a much better team on paper and have a chance to title chase. Playing alongside Nick Bosa should be fun, too, especially because he'll have to face fewer double teams, even though he dominates those anyway. Odighizuwa's role should be bigger, too, without Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark.
2. Raheem Morris
It's not like the San Francisco defense was worldbeaters last season, but they were a good unit, largely held together by Robert Saleh. Morris has big shoes to fill, but adding a player like Odighizuwa, who has 8.0 sacks and 46 quarterback hits in the last two seasons, is sure to help his cause. The more talent, the better, for Morris' 49ers defense. And Odighizuwa is talented.
3. 49ers' pass rush
As we just mentioned, Odighizuwa has recorded 8.0 sacks and 46 quarterback hits over the last two seasons. His pass-rush win rate, according to Pro Football Focus, was 13.6% last season, which is a very good mark and better than any of the 49ers' other interior defensive linemen last year. Odighizuwa's 29 pressures nearly doubled San Francisco's best DT's numbers from last year.
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Losers
1. 49ers' run defense
Odighizuwa, for as talented as he is getting after the quarterback, doesn't have a great reputation as a run-stopper. His PFF marks were below average in this realm last season, and he recorded just 17 run stops in 691 snaps, 295 of which were against the run. And his low marks against the run are not uncommon in his career, either, even if his run stops were lower than usual in 2025.
2. Kalia Davis
Kalia Davis played the second-most snaps among the 49ers' interior defensive linemen last season, and the most among non-nose tackles. He hasn't been re-signed yet this offseason, and although it'd be cheap to still do so, he either won't return to San Francisco or won't have the same role if he comes back. He obviously wasn't great last season, but he's a loser of this trade.
3. John Lynch
Lynch might have forked out a bit too much capital here. Odighizuwa isn't a prototypical a three-down player at defensive tackle, and a third-round pick is certainly not nothing. Fortunately, the 49ers have an "out" in his contract after the 2026 season, should he not perform, but he is currently on the books for $16.8 million this year, and $20.5 million in each of the next two years after that.