With Nick Bosa out for the season, San Francisco moved quickly for pass-rush help, acquiring Keion White from the Patriots for a late pick swap. White flashed with five sacks in 2024 and a strong pressure grade, and the 49ers, sitting 5-3 and near the bottom of the league in sacks, are betting a change of scenery can unlock that version again.
ESPN reported that the 49ers aren’t done. The team “needs help at every single level of the defense,” still holds a winning record, and understands it’s in the latter stage of a championship window with several core veterans.
There’s no single move that replaces a Bosa or a Fred Warner, but San Francisco has been “calling around about pass-rush help” and is expected to do “something beyond what they’ve already done.”
The same report noted Pittsburgh remains aggressive after trading for Patriots safety Kyle Dugger, and is still combing the receiver market; if a Jakobi Meyers deal doesn’t materialize, the Steelers could pivot to a speed option like Rashid Shaheed. All via ESPN’s insider roundtable.
For the 49ers, this window-oriented approach holds. John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have a history of being active at the deadline, and the current roster math suggests layered depth moves rather than a single blockbuster.
White offers a first swing; a complementary rusher, a coverage-capable linebacker, or a rotational corner would further stabilize a defense that has leaned heavily on scheme to manufacture pressure since Bosa’s injury.
The calculus is also cap-aware. Low-cost, high-upside acquisitions (expiring deals, underused younger talent) fit best, allowing San Francisco to preserve future flexibility while propping up a battered unit. That approach dovetails with recent in-season tinkering on special teams and the back end, where short fields and time of possession have amplified defensive strain.
Elsewhere in the rumor mill, ESPN’s report framed the Jets as another logical buyer, but circled back to San Francisco as the team most likely to make an additional move given need, urgency, and precedent. If the 49ers can pair White with another situational edge or coverage piece, the defense’s floor rises in November, exactly when Shanahan’s teams typically surge.
The 49ers also supplemented depth on Tuesday by adding two former first-rounders to the practice squad amid injuries: edge Clelin Ferrell (returning for a second stint) and tackle Andre Dillard, per national reports. They’re flyer bets, but familiar profiles for a staff that’s squeezed real snaps from reclamation projects before.
