7 trades 49ers can make to accumulate more draft picks for 2026

The San Francisco 49ers aren't rolling into the 2026 NFL draft with a ton of draft capital at their disposal.

Thanks to a handful of trades over the last couple of seasons the 49ers are sitting with only six picks in this year's draft, including none in Round 3 and none after Round 4. Four of their six selections come in the final 14 picks of the fourth round thanks to a trio of compensatory selections that fall between Nos. 133 and 139.

San Francisco could certainly make do with their scheduled selections at No. 27, 58, 127, 133, 138 and 139. Their list of long-term needs and some immediate depth issues make this year's draft an important one, and having more opportunities to fill out depth or find a star after Day 1 would make a ton of sense.

There are a handful of trades the 49ers could make to pick up some additional draft capital. We went through seven of them here:

1. Trade back from No. 27

This is the easiest way to do it. The problem is finding a team to move up to that spot. They may get lucky and a coveted player falls and a bidding war starts between teams sitting in the No. 28 to No. 32 range. That will likely be their only opportunity for a trade down, though. If a team is looking to move up to grab a player in Round 1 to secure a fifth-year option, they'll more likely aim for lower in the first round. For example, if the Arizona Cardinals want to move up to snag a quarterback in Round 1, they wouldn't need to leapfrog Nos. 28-32. Those teams aren't in the QB market. If the Cardinals want to get to Round 1 just for the fifth-year option they'd be more likely to call the Seattle Seahawks at 32 than San Francisco at 27.

2. Find a suitor for Mac Jones

There hasn't been much movement on the Jones front and it seems the quarterback carousel has settled for now. San Francisco should certainly keep its phone on though in case a team makes a last second play for Jones after seeing the first round of the draft shake out. The 49ers could pretty quickly add a Day 2 pick and perhaps more if they're able to send out their backup QB.

3. Call it quits, trade LT Trent Williams

It doesn't sound like the 49ers and Williams will get so far apart in contract talks that San Francisco will do something so drastic as to trade their Hall of Fame left tackle. In fact, it sounds like the two sides are trying to get something done before the draft begins on April 23. Sometimes things get weird, though. If there's no contract resolution by the time the draft starts and the 49ers land an offensive lineman they like in Round 1, they may be willing to explore offers for Williams on Day 2 of the draft where teams may be willing to give up a second or third-round pick and more to solidify the left side of their offensive line.

4. Thin LB glut and trade LB Dee Winters

This one was suggested by NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco. Winters' window to be an impact player for the 49ers might've closed as quickly as it opened. He burst on the scene in training camp last year as a third-year LB to secure the starting Will linebacker spot. Winters acquitted himself well in the starting role with 101 tackles, eight tackles for loss, one interception and five pass breakups. His play didn't stop the 49ers from re-signing Dre Greenlaw this offseason, and while the 49ers would like to have some depth behind the oft-injured LB, that depth spot may be occupied by 2025 third-round pick Nick Martin. If the team is confident in that role for Martin it makes Winters expendable.

5. Thin LB glut (remix) and trade LB Nick Martin

Basically what No. 4 says, but the team trades the second-year LB Martin instead of the fourth-year LB Winters. Their values are probably relatively similar, although Winters being in the final year of his rookie deal could ding his market some. Either way, the 49ers would likely only bring a late Day 3 pick back in either deal.

6. Secure a Day 2 trade back

The 49ers' ability to move down from their lone scheduled Day 2 pick at No. 58 will depend a lot on how the first round goes. Wide receiver and defensive end are glaring enough needs that not addressing either of them in Round 1 would make it hard to move down from 58th overall and miss out on a top-60 prospect to fill one of those needs.

On the other hand, if they do find a WR or DE in the first round and move down a few spots to pick up a couple of late Day 3 picks it would be a worthwhile deal.

7. Get literally anything for WR Brandon Aiyuk

We're putting this one down just in case a team gets antsy and decides it needs to shed draft capital to acquire Aiyuk instead of waiting for San Francisco to let him go. Chances are that urge won't come until after this year's draft, but if it does come beforehand, it would likely be for a late-round pick where San Francisco is also giving up a future late-round pick.

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