The San Francisco 49ers only sacked Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback one time this past Sunday. Mayfield was also pressured 12.6 percent lower than Mac Jones was. In fact, Mayfield was pressured at the sixth-lowest rate of the week.
The lack of pass rush has been consistent for the Niners ever since they lost Nick Bosa for the season. So, it’s no surprise when ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano report that the team is doing their due diligence and scanning the trade market for pass rush options.
One name that continues to come up is Tennessee Titans edge rusher Arden Key, who missed Week 6 with a thigh injury. Watching him against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5 was mildly disappointing. Key had a sack, but he was largely invisible for the game. That was the only pressure Key generated all game. It’s mostly been that way for Key this season. He’s had one game where there has been more than one pressure in the box score.
Fowler said the Cincinnati Bengals have no plans to trade Trey Hendrickson as they believe they are still in the hunt. Of course, plenty could change over the next couple of weeks. The Bengals could lose their next three games and end up 2-7 heading into the deadline. Fowler led with the 49ers considering Hendrickson as an “ideal fit” for their defense if the Bengals would part with him for reasonable compensation, whatever that would entail.
Here’s more from Fowler:
Other potential options I suspect the 49ers will check on include edge rushers Rashan Gary (Packers), Jaelan Phillips (Dolphins), Bradley Chubb (Dolphins), Jermaine Johnson (Jets), Will McDonald IV (Jets) and Arden Key (Titans). If the Packers won’t part with Gary — and I don’t think they would — they have pass rusher Kingsley Enagbare, a former starter who’s relegated to a reserve role in a contract year. Pass rusher could elicit the most movement on the trade market overall, and I suspect San Francisco will be involved to some extent.
Robert Saleh drafted Johnson and McDonald. Johnson has only appeared in three games, but has seven run stops and a pressure rate of 12 percent in limited action. His numbers are intriguing, and Johnson is under contract through the 2026 season.
McDonald has played in every game, but he’s a pass-rush first player. He’s playing in 57 percent of the snaps and has two sacks this season with a pressure rate of 10.6 percent.
We discussed Enagbare this past Sunday. Gary feels like a long shot.
That leaves the Dolphins duo of Chubb and Phillips. Chubb’s contract doesn’t void until after the 2027 season, when he’ll be 31. He’s without a doubt the most accomplished player on this list. In six games, Chubb has four sacks and a pressure rate of nearly 13 percent.
You have to cross your fingers every time Phillips takes the field in hopes that he stays healthy. However, the talent is there. He has 11 stops, one sack, and a pressure rate of 15.1 percent. His athleticism and hustle make him a good fit for Robert Saleh’s defense in a pinch.
Will San Francisco look for a temporary replacement for Fred Warner? We can’t rule that out, according to Graziano:
I do think — given their history, their 4-2 record and their goals for this season — that the 49ers will look to add at any or all of the three levels of the defense. They have plenty of cap space to take on contracts if teams are unloading them. I don’t think it needs to be edge help, though that’s probably a priority. If the Jets are dealing players, as most people seem to expect they will, could linebacker Quincy Williams (who’s playing on the final year of his contract) make sense for San Francisco?
Williams is currently on the Injured Reserve with a shoulder injury. He is the type of linebacker who can thrive on every down and has sideline-to-sideline speed the Niners covet.
Fowler mentioned Houston Texans linebacker Christian Harris, who is also in the final year of his contract, as a potential option to help fill the void left by Warner. The former third-rounder out of Alabama lost his starting gig after missing most of the 2024 season with a calf injury.
In 2023, Harris had three separate games with 12 tackles. He has a nose for the football. He’s also 24 and ran a 4.44 40-yard dash in the 2022 NFL Combine. A linebacker with a 97th percentile 40-yard dash and a 98th percentile broad jump should always raise eyebrows or pique an evaluator’s interest.
One of Harris’s closest comparisons is Nick Martin, who has been a healthy scratch in every game. Is the 49ers’ rookie that far behind where he won’t sniff the field with Warner sidelined? We’ll find out in the coming weeks.
Graziano added that he wouldn’t be shocked if the help the 49ers bring in from the outside comes on the offensive side of the ball, given the injuries at wide receiver and the uncertainty of Brandon Ayiuk’s return.
