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The San Francisco 49ers will now need to face Myles Garrett twice this season after the Los Angeles Rams traded for the former Cleveland Browns star. As a result, other teams in the NFC West and conference have been put on notice.
On June 1, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported , citing sources, that the Browns are finalizing a trade that would send Garrett to Los Angeles.
In return, the Rams are sending two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round draft pick, and other draft compensation. The question regarding the Niners is whether they intend to respond at any point between now and the trade deadline later this year.
As a result, Grant Cohn, who covers the team for the 49ers on SI, responded to whether the Niners pursuing the Las Vegas Raiders ‘ Maxx Crosby makes sense.
“I think [the 49ers] could do [trade for Crosby] for two firsts; maybe it would not even take two firsts,” Cohn said in a June 1 video from his YouTube channel . “The fact that he failed that physical, maybe they could trade him. I do not know. So I guess the Raiders are feeling like, why trade low? Why sell low? Get him back on the field, see what he can do, see what he can show. Maybe they can rehabilitate his trade value.
“So let us say the Raiders are unwilling to trade Maxx Crosby until the deadline, when they are definitely out of it, and Maxx Crosby is once again worth two first-round picks. I would trade the picks unless the season was going off the rails and he would not save it. But I do not see the season going like that.”
Niners Could Rival Rams D-Line In Potential Maxx Crosby Trade
Moreover, Cohn states that if the 49ers made a move for Crosby, they could go toe-to-toe with the Rams regarding who has the better defensive line, given that San Francisco also has Nick Bosa and Osa Odighizuwa.
“If you have Maxx Crosby and Nick Bosa and Osa Odighizuwa you can actually with a straight face talk about the Niners being maybe better than the Rams; maybe,” Cohn added.
Last season with the Raiders, Crosby played 935 total snaps on defense, leading to a 79.7 overall PFF defensive grade . The veteran pass rusher generated 53 total pressures, 10 sacks, 31 hurries, 12 QB hits, and a forced fumble. Meanwhile, against the run, he recorded 46 solo tackles.
49ers Reporter Doesn’t Hold Back After Rams Trade
Cohn hasn’t been shy about criticizing the Niners for their lack of a move that would catapult them into the Super Bowl discussion. After the reported Rams trade for Garrett emerged, Cohn shared his thoughts on the team not making this aggressive move, even as a team in their division did.
“The 49ers messed up,” Cohn said in a June 1 video on his X account . “They just let the Rams trade for Myles Garrett. They traded Jared Verse, a first-round pick and more for Myles Garrett, and now the Rams are officially the team to beat in the NFL; they are way better than the 49ers, at least on paper, and this didn’t have to happen. The 49ers could have been the team that traded for Myles Garrett.
“They have way more cap space than the Rams [and] have first-round picks; they have Nick Bosa. They could have put together a trade package and brought in a player who would really give them a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl, who would actually put them over the top.”
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
