Losing Nick Bosa to a season-ending knee injury was a brutal blow for the San Francisco 49ers for many reasons. While Bosa is among the elite of the elite, the 49ers’ defense will have to attempt to step up with him off the field. It’s a challenging situation for all involved, but the best plan for San Francisco will be to explore potential improvements to its roster through a trade.
When searching for potential options for the 49ers to pursue, Niners Wire’s Kyle Madson proposed the idea of them trading for current Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher and recent first-round pick Tyree Wilson. Wilson would be an ideal candidate for the 49ers to pursue, but he might be more of a long-term thing than an immediate contributor.
“Wilson hasn’t lived up to his status as the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Perhaps the Raiders aren’t looking to part ways with the young DE just yet, but if they are it’s easy to see the 49ers looking to add him as a potential reclamation project. Wilson is showing some improvement as a pass rusher and last season he was a strong run defender for Vegas,” he wrote.
Can the 49ers Jumpstart Raiders’ Tyree Wilson’s Career?
Throughout the early stages of Wilson’s career with the Las Vegas Raiders, he hasn’t exactly played the type of football he was expected to. The idea for Wilson was to be one of the top defensive ends in the NFL, but his best season has only been 27 combined tackles with 4.5 sacks.
Entering the campaign, however, the Raiders had big thoughts for Wilson, with head coach Pete Carroll telling ESPN that they thought they had something with him.
“I think this is really his time,” Carroll said. “… I’m counting on him to do stuff in a big way.”
“We’re moving [Wilson] around, trying to see what we can do and work in complement with our other rushers,” Carroll said. “But I’m really enthused about how he’s shown his effort and his concern about doing things really hard and full speed and all that. So that’s a really good sign. He’s a marvelous looking athlete.”
How Do the 49ers Want to Replace Nick Bosa?
Regarding the San Francisco 49ers’ perspective on a potential trade, it’ll come down to who they’re looking for. Wilson could entice the organization, but ultimately, this is a team with an opportunity to win a Super Bowl. If they don’t have trust in him to figure things out, the better plan would be to get a veteran who has proven more than Wilson has throughout this part of his career.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan understands it’ll be tough to do so, no matter who they add in a trade.
“Nothing in particular,” Shanahan said when asked how the 49ers pick up the pieces after Bosa’s injury, per NBC Sports Bay Area. “You don’t just replace a guy like Nick. … Everyone’s got to continue to get better at everything. It’s the same thing I’d be preaching if we did have Nick, too. When you lose your better players, it gets harder, but I also expect throughout this year all of our players to get better as it goes.
“That’s stressed even that much more when you lose a great one like Nick. Lots of guys obviously will have to step it up as it goes, but I believe that’ll be more by committee than any individual.”