As good as the San Francisco 49ers were in 2025, they still had a glaring issue on defense: They couldn’t harass opposing quarterbacks in any way, shape or form.
San Francisco finished with 20 sacks during the regular season, which ranked dead last in the NFL. It was also a significant decline from the 37 they amassed the year before.
To be fair, the 49ers’ edge group was riddled with injuries. Top edge Nick Bosa’s season-ending knee injury early in the year forced San Francisco to reshuffle its pass rush and lean more heavily on Bryce Huff, who also dealt with availability issues. Rookie Mykel Williams also suffered a season-ending injury, and Yetur Gross-Matos also missed time.
Despite all those injuries, Vic Tafur of The Athletic thinks it’s possible the Niners might use draft capital acquired from trading backup QB Mac Jones to help acquire a top-tier edge rusher.
How Trading QB Mac Jones Could Help 49ers Trade for Maxx Crosby
GettyTrading Mac Jones could give the San Francisco 49ers, some extra draft capital to acquire Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby.
While general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan have both publicly said they’d like to keep Jones around for the second year of his two-year contract in 2026, the way the QB performed in relief of Brock Purdy last season will have other teams calling about a trade.
Jones went 5-3 in his eight starts last year, completing just under 70% of his passes for 2,151 yards, 13 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. His contract is also attractive. He’s got a cap hit of less than $4 million in 2026, and teams with questions at quarterback – teams like the Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets or Indianapolis Colts are just three potential options — will no doubt be calling about a trade.
“Lynch and Shanahan didn’t seem flexible when the topic of trading quarterback Mac Jones came up on Wednesday,” Tafur wrote on January 26. “But that may have just been posturing, or a sense that it was too soon to hint at goodbye for the popular, self-admittedly goofy backup who won five games last season. Surely, an offer of a third-round pick would be too rich to pass up for more years of Jones, especially given Shanahan’s success in developing quarterbacks.”
Tafur then dropped this nugget:
“An extra pick would help the 49ers address a need — or even stockpile picks for someone such as Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby, who should be available and who the team really liked when they 49ers went against him in a joint practice last summer. There are a lot of cool things in view when you have a nice window.”
49ers Would Have to Give Up a Ton for Crosby
Crosby remains one of the league’s most productive edge defenders. In 2025, he had 10 sacks in 15 games, along with 28 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and an interception. Even while playing through knee issues late in the season, he continued to draw double teams and impact games.
But Crosby’s situation in Las Vegas has grown complicated.
The Raiders shut him down late last season because of his knee injury — a decision he publicly disagreed with. The Raiders finished 3-14 and hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, signaling a potential reset.
But a trade for Crosby will involve more than just a second- or third- round pick. Las Vegas will want at least one future first rounder (probably two), and perhaps a young player to be included, as well. That’s likely more than Lynch and company are going to want to pay for an edge when they already have Bosa’s contract on the books. Crosby has cap hits of $35 million in 2026 and $30 million in 2027 before there’s an out in his $107 million deal. They would have to move a lot of money around to make this work.
It’s possible trading Jones will give the Niners draft capital acquire another solid player — but a move for Crosby would be a bit of a surprise.
Mac Jones Trade Could Help 49ers Make Play for $107 Million Superstar