At 4-1 and despite a laundry list of injuries, the San Francisco 49ers have somehow managed to work their way toward being buyers at the NFL trade deadline.
Prior to a Week 5 win over the Los Angeles Rams, general manager John Lynch said the Niners had to "earn the right" to pull off a blockbuster trade. With that crucial NFC West victory now in the books, Lynch effectively said he's actively working the phones to see if he can address San Francisco's biggest area of need in the wake of defensive end Nick Bosa's season-ending ACL tear: the pass rush.
And there's certainly one player above all the rest who'd ideally fit the bill.
The Cincinnati Bengals haven't pulled the plug on the season despite losing franchise quarterback Joe Burrow to a serious toe injury that'll sideline him for several weeks. If they had, they likely wouldn't have traded with the Cleveland Browns for veteran signal-caller Joe Flacco.
Yet Cincy, 2-3 and losers of three straight games, is pressed right up against being sellers at the deadline, meaning it's a very real possibility it looks to move star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.
And, yes. Lynch and the 49ers would be interested. So would 30 other teams.
Hendrickson's high-profile contractual standoff with Cincinnati prior to the regular season ended in a revised contract, but he doesn't have a no-trade clause and he'll still be a free agent in 2026, meaning the Bengals can trade him for the best possible offer, should they opt to do so.
With back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons in 2023 and 2024, and already four under his belt this year, the 30-year-old four-time Pro Bowler would be a massive get.
So, could the Niners actually pull off such a blockbuster?
It's doubtful Cincy re-signs or extends Hendrickson between now and free agency, meaning head coach Zac Taylor's squad has the choice of letting him walk for a likely Round 3 compensatory draft pick or netting the best possible return on the trade market, should the Bengals finally commit to being sellers.
Trading Hendrickson within the division is all but out of the question, and Cincinnati would prefer to have him out of the conference altogether.
So, that prompts the question whether San Francisco would be willing to part ways with a high draft pick (likely a Round 2 selection at the very least), multiple picks (potentially including conditional ones), a starting-caliber player in return or a combination of any of those three possibilities. And would that package be enough to outbid other potential buyers?
Maybe. However, in light of their hot start and an awfully easy schedule the rest of the way, perhaps Lynch and Co. see the time as being right for such a deal.
Despite its own turbulent offseason, San Francisco still has nearly $24 million in available cap space, per Over the Cap, meaning it can easily afford the prorated amount of Hendrickson's $16 million base salary.
Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, not exactly.
Hendrickson would be ideal, and he'd have a clear-cut bona fide role in coordinator Robert Saleh's defense with Bosa done for the year.
But adding a player of Hendrickson's ilk goes almost entirely against the 49ers' modus operandi from last offseason: getting both younger and cheaper. It'd be one thing if Hendrickson was younger. But, being on the wrong side of 30 years old isn't exactly the kind of move Lynch would be expected to make.
Especially if it was likely no more than just a half-year rental with almost zero chance of an extension on the horizon. While San Francisco has cap space now, it'd be awfully challenged to meet his contractual demands in 2026 and beyond.
Granted, Hendrickson might help net the Niners a comp pick of their own, should they trade for him and then let him walk in free agency this upcoming spring. But executing a deal with the Bengals would assuredly be part of a greater bidding war that'd cut into Lynch's draft assets that became so prioritized with San Francisco's recent efforts to get younger and cheaper.
A second- or even a first-round pick for three-plus months of Hendrickson's services may not be what the 49ers view as best for the organization's long-term health.
Lynch and the Niners have until Tuesday, Nov. 4 to weigh both sides of the argument.