It didn’t take long for the San Francisco 49ers to miss superstar defensive end Nick Bosa.
The impact of his absence due to a torn ACL he suffered in Week 3 was felt immediately in the 49ers’ Week 4 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. San Francisco generated only five pressures with zero quarterback hits and zero sacks in the defeat. The Jaguars also ripped off a whopping 5.3 yards per carry on the ground before three kneel downs at the end of the game dropped their average to 4.7 yards per carry.
If the 49ers were in ‘wait and see’ mode on a trade, they should’ve seen enough Sunday, which is why a trade proposed by our friend and Saints Wire managing editor John Sigler makes a ton of sense.
Sigler projected the 0-4 Saints to quickly become sellers ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline. One of his potential moves has the 49ers sending third and fourth-round picks in the 2026 draft to New Orleans in exchange for 28-year-old Northern California native Carl Granderson.
Here’s Sigler’s breakdown:
They’re holding on with a 3-1 record, but the San Francisco 49ers could use some help after Nick Bosa’s season-ending injury. The 49ers are tied for the fourth-fewest sacks through four games (with five of them). Just one team, the Carolina Panthers, has a worse pressure rate than San Francisco. Granderson would be a big upgrade for them. And with several compensatory picks coming their way in 2026, the 49ers can afford to overpay a little.
But can the Saints afford to lose Granderson? He’s part of the solution, not part of the problem. Chase Young can’t be relied on. Jordan’s career is drawing to a close. They don’t have any young draft picks developing behind those guys on top of the depth chart. Adding a couple of mid-round picks would be nice, but this might be too big of a loss for them.
It’s hard to argue with the player-team fit here. Granderson has been a steady presence for the Saints on their defensive line since joining the club as an undrafted rookie in 2019. He posted 1.0 sacks in eight games as a rookie, but since then has 32 sacks in 84 games and has posted fewer than 5.0 only once since then. In 2024 he has 4.5 sacks, which is 0.5 fewer than the 49ers have as a team.
Granderson has also graded out well as a run defender in his career according to Pro Football Focus’ grading system, and his 6-5, 261-pound frame suggests there could be some untapped inside/outside versatility.
A potential hangup for San Francisco, and perhaps the reason they wouldn’t be willing to part with two mid-round picks to get him, is that Granderson turns 30 next season and has two years left on his contract after this one with cap hits above $18 million in 2026 and 2027. However, he has only $5.44 million guaranteed next year and none in 2027 according to Over the Cap which wouldn’t make the contract exceedingly cumbersome.
On the other hand, the 49ers are in the business of clearing their books in the future and Granderson comes with the risk of being another player who doesn’t quite live up to his contract. That’s the sort of deal San Francisco spent the offseason trying to avoid.
The wrench in all of the financial machinations is the chance at Super Bowl contention. San Francisco would without question shell out a third and a fourth in next year’s draft if they believe Granderson is the piece that gets them over the hump and into the group of legitimate contenders in the NFC. If they believe he’s simply a piece to help them stay afloat in the playoff race, it’s hard to believe they’d dish out that kind of draft capital with cheaper options who can offer similar upside likely on the table at the deadline.
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