In an NFL season like no other, it would only be fitting if the Nov. 3 trade deadline followed suit.
As voters around their country have their final chances to participate in the general election, general managers around the league will have their last opportunity to improve their rosters via trade. NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms said Thursday that next season’s salary-cap ramifications from league revenues lost during the still-ongoing coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the number of teams who view themselves as Super Bowl contenders in an expanded playoff field, could lead to “one of the most explosive, crazy trade deadlines in recent history.”
Simms said the 49ers are in a position to take advantage.
“I do think there’s gonna be an opportunity for them to make a play somewhere,” Simms told NBC Sports Bay Area on Thursday. “Do they want to do that? Do they want to go for another pass rusher that gets put on the market? Maybe another [cornerback] if they feel like, ‘Oh, we’re banged up?’ “
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Coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters Friday that the 49ers have made calls on out-of-favor wide receiver Dante Pettis, a 2018 second-round pick who has failed to catch on, but Shanahan also said Monday that the team isn’t looking to trade draft picks for players after entering the 2020 draft with just four non-compensatory selections.
Although the 3-3 49ers already have lost as many games this season as they did in 2019, they’re firmly in the mix for a playoff spot. They’re a game back of the Los Angeles Rams for the No. 7 seed in the NFC, which is the final postseason spot in the expanded format. The 49ers just beat the Rams 24-16 on “Sunday Night Football” last week, starting a daunting stretch of their schedule on the right foot.
No matter what happens against the New England Patriots this Sunday, Simms said he anticipates the 49ers will view themselves as playoff contenders going into the trade deadline.
“I don’t expect them to be sellers,” Simms said. “I don’t think they’re out of this. I mean, how could you think they’re out of this when they dominate what everyone calls one of the better teams in football last week in the Rams? … So, even if they lose this week to New England, I’m not giving up on the 49ers.
“As frustrated as I was with Nick Mullens against the [Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4] and that horrible game against [the Miami Dolphins in Week 5], we’ve seen other parts of good and really good to where I go, ‘I still think they can put this together and have a say in the NFC when all is said and done.’ So, I would expect them to be buyers if the price is right.”
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The 49ers’ schedule doesn’t let up after Sunday’s trip to Foxboro, Massachusetts. The Niners will play four of their next five games against teams currently in a playoff spot, and the only one that isn’t (New Orleas Saints) still is ahead of the 49ers in the standings.
Safety Jimmie Ward’s injury is yet another reminder of how important the 49ers’ depth will be moving forward, and the deadline offers arguably the best chance for the 49ers to bolster it. If they view themselves as highly as Simms does, they might have little choice but to make a move.
