The 49ers already made one move for the defensive front, and the idea of another one isn’t far-fetched at all.
On Tuesday, they sent a fourth-round pick to the Indianapolis Colts for DeForest Buckner. If the Raiders keep spiraling, the next splash could be even bigger: a deal for Maxx Crosby that would likely cost San Francisco two first-round picks.
That’s where things stand with Las Vegas, which has now dropped four straight and doesn’t look like a team headed anywhere this season. The Raiders already explored moving Crosby to the Ravens a few months ago, but Baltimore backed out of the deal.
Even now, the logic still points toward a trade. Las Vegas needs draft capital more than it needs a 29-year-old star, especially with the franchise building toward 2028 and not wanting to burn more of Crosby’s prime.
Crosby, meanwhile, would fit the 49ers’ timeline perfectly. He started his career in Oakland and appears to like the Bay Area. More importantly, San Francisco needs another pass rusher, and the Buckner trade says plenty about how it views Nick Bosa right now.
The 49ers clearly aren’t comfortable banking on Bosa to carry the load alone. If they truly believed he would come back fully after the bye week, stay healthy the rest of the way and perform to his contract, they wouldn’t have paid for Buckner as a half-season addition at a spot they already had some strength. The interior group - Osa Odighizuwa, Gracen Halton, Keion White, Sebastian Valdez and James Thompson Jr. - is producing, but none of them bring what Buckner does when it comes to getting after the quarterback.
Crosby would give San Francisco a real answer if Bosa isn’t the guy long term. And the longer view matters here, because Bosa probably won’t be on the roster in 2027.
His cap hit is set to jump to nearly $55 million, with less than $1 million guaranteed, and the 49ers almost certainly won’t want to hand out an extension after his third ACL surgery. That could leave them looking at a trade or a release if nobody wants to absorb the contract.
Pairing Crosby with Buckner would transform the 49ers’ defensive line and, in this view, put them squarely in clear-cut Super Bowl favorite territory.
The price won’t be light. Crosby would almost certainly cost first-round picks in 2027 and 2028, and those selections are expected to come late in the round. For a team built to win now, though, that kind of draft capital is the tradeoff.
There is one catch: the 49ers may have to wait. The Raiders and 49ers play on Nov. 8, and it would make no sense for Las Vegas to move Crosby before that matchup.
If the Raiders lose after that, a deal could follow. And if San Francisco wants him, it better hope no other contender gets there first.
In Other News...
49ers First Loss Made One Thing About This Roster Impossible To Ignore
The first loss of the 2026 season did not come with much room for comfort, even if the 49ers still sit in control of the NFC West at 6-1 heading into Week 9. San Franciscos undefeated start and six-game road winning streak both ended in Atlanta, and the defeat came with the sort of issues that tend to travel with a team until they get cleaned up: shaky ball security, a pass rush that could not create enough disruption, and a game plan that had to survive through several key injuries.
Christian McCaffrey was part of the injury storyline, briefly leaving with a thigh scare before returning, which only added to the feeling that this was one of those Sundays where everything got tested at once. The bye week now arrives at a useful time for the 49ers, giving them a chance to reset physically and sort through a loss that exposed just how thin the margin can be when the core pieces are not fully at ease. [Read more 🡒]
49ers May Be Running Out Of Time With Eddy Pineiro
Eddy Pineiros season has become a problem the 49ers can no longer keep brushing aside. During the game against the Falcons, the veteran kicker missed his seventh kick of the year, another jolt to a phase of the game that San Francisco expected to be stable when it brought him in.
The 49ers have enough moving parts elsewhere without having to wonder about every field goal and extra point, and the possibility of a change is starting to feel more realistic by the week. If they do decide to move on, the free-agent market offers a few familiar names to monitor, with Graham Gano, Matt Prater and Riley Patterson among the kickers who could come into the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Halloween Party Turns Viral Scandal Into A Locker Room Debate
A recent Halloween gathering around the 49ers turned into more than a costume party when the teams festivities brushed up against one of the years stranger viral stories. Daejon Love, whose arrest and federal case made headlines after authorities said he ran fake investment schemes that targeted more than two dozen women, has become a familiar name far beyond the financial-crime beat, and the topic was apparently impossible to avoid once the 49ers started putting together their looks.
At least two San Francisco players leaned into the reference, with one showing up in a jersey and another in a jail outfit, turning a serious off-field case into the kind of locker-room debate that can follow a team long after the music stops. It was a reminder that viral stories have a way of bleeding into NFL culture quickly, especially when the subject already comes with enough controversy to make a Halloween costume feel like commentary. [Read more 🡒]