The San Francisco 49ers have a Nick Bosa-sized hole to fill right now, and they don’t have that many realistic ways to fill it.
With Bosa headed for season-ending knee surgery, San Francisco’s pass rush is going to need some juice, and one of the team’s most attractive options could be in New York.
“Kayvon Thibodeaux was the fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft and has shown flashes of elite ability. What’s unknown is whether he has a future in New York with Brian Burns and rookie Abdul Carter also on the roster,” Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report wrote on September 24.
Knox has Thibodeaux listed as No. 1 on his Week 4 Trade Block Big Board, and he has the Niners as one of two teams who could be top trade suitors. Knox thinks a potential trade might have to involve an offensive playmaker for rookie QB Jaxson Dart.
If the Giants aren’t overly committed to Thibodeaux, now would be the perfect time to move him,” Knox added. “Moving Thibodeaux could bring back a quality offensive player and/or high draft pick to aid the young quarterback this season or next. New York has some talented offensive skill players, but it should look to put as much talent around Dart as it can get.”
A Look at What Thibodeaux Has Done in 3+ Seasons With the New York Giants
GettyShould the San Francisco 49ers trade for NY Giants edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux?
Thibodeaux was the No. 5 pick in the 2022 draft out of Oregon. He’s still just 24 years old and is listed at 6-foot-5, 258 pounds. With his size and ridiculous arm length, he’d be a definite asset to San Francisco’s D-line.
Through the 2024 season, he logged 21.0 sacks, then added 1.5 more in the opening weeks of 2025, continuing an upward trend after his 11.5-sack breakout in 2023. He also has 51 QB hits, 28 tackles-for-loss, 12 passes defensed and six forced fumbles over 46 career games (all starts).
On the field, Thibodeaux has shown he can win from a true wide alignment, close from depth when quarterbacks climb and finish through contact. In Saleh’s structure, his rush plan would diversify—more inside counters off TE-T stunts, or more opportunities to knife against over-sets, for example. That’s nothing he can’t handle.
If the 49ers offered up, say, Jauan Jennings and a second-round pick, would the Giants bite?
49ers Trade Proposal Swaps Jauan Jennings & Pick for DE Kayvon Thibodeaux
With Bosa out, the Niners have leaned on a committee, including newcomer Bryce Huff and rookie Mykel Williams. While that’s a workable situation, dropping Thibodeaux into that mix would give the team a proven force on the edge.
It would also be an affordable move for the Niners to make. The Giants exercised Thibodeaux’s fifth-year option in April, keeping him under team control through 2026. That option is for $14.8 million, a relative bargain as the edge market keeps climbing. For the 49ers, they’d be adding a premier-talent rusher on a fixed number next year, plus the ability to talk extension if things work out.
For the Giants, they’d get Jennings, who is coming off a career year, and a future second-rounder. That’s not bad compensation.
We’re no saying Thibodeaux is Bosa—few compare at all—but Thibs is young, ascending and already productive enough to make opposing offenses have to account for him. When you also consider the cost and scheme fit, you can see why this might be one of those trades that would make immediate sense.
49ers Trade Proposal Swaps Jauan Jennings for Nick Bosa Replacement