49ers trade idea lands former Oregon pass rusher to replace injured Nick Bosa

Charlie Baduini

49ers trade idea lands former Oregon pass rusher to replace injured Nick Bosa image

Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

The San Francisco 49ers were able to scrape by the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, squeezing out a 16-15 victory.

It didn't come without any losses, though, as the Niners have reportedly lost their superstar pass rusher, Nick Bosa, for the season with a torn ACL.

San Francisco can't afford to slow down, as they're a 3-0 team with Super Bowl aspirations. To keep pace in the NFC, general manager John Lynch should make some calls and see what he can find around the league.

Niners Trade Idea Lands Kayvon Thibodeaux

According to Kristopher Knox's 2025 NFL Trade Block Big Board Entering Week 4, former first-round pick out of Oregon and current New York Giant Kayvon Thibodeaux is the No. 1 trade asset across the league, and would be a perfect fill-in while Bosa recovers from his knee injury.

"The demand for Thibodeaux on the trade market should be extremely high. While he's never quite played up to his draft status, he's had one double-digit sack season and is still only 24 years old," wrote Knox.

"Through three games this season, Thibodeaux has 1.5 sacks and five QB pressures."

While the former Oregon Duck isn't the same caliber of player that Bosa is, he is still a talented rusher and could come into his own in defensive coordinator Robert Saleh's scheme.

Thibodeaux is also under two more years of team control and would still be on the roster in 2026, allowing Bosa more time to ease back in coming off his ACL surgery.

The trade makes almost too much sense for the Niners, and as a Super Bowl contender, they should have no problem giving up a future second-round pick for the former Oregon standout.

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Charlie Baduini

Charlie Baduini is a freelance NBA writer with The Sporting News. He is a content editor and writer with a wide variety of sports reporting experience in live broadcasting and print media.