49ers make in-season trade again, try to shore up defensive line

On Friday, two days before a big rivalry showdown with the Cowboys, the 49ers made a move to help with that, trading for edge rusher Randy Gregory from the Denver Broncos. San Francisco is sending a 2024 sixth-round pick to Denver for Gregory along with a 2024 seventh-round pick.

“Playing against him over our career … he’s as good of a rusher as we’ve gone against,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday. “… Being able to add a guy like that, we feel like he can make our team better, so we didn’t hesitate to do it.”

Gregory, 30, spent the first seven years of his career in Dallas. During that time, he was suspended three times by the NFL for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, including missing the entire 2017 and 2019 seasons. But after battling his substance misuse issues head-on, Gregory produced a six-sack season in 2021. In 2022, he hit free agency and signed a five-year, $70 million deal with the Broncos, with $28 million guaranteed.

He missed significant time with Denver last year because of a knee injury, playing in only six games and tallying just two sacks. So far this season, he’s played in every game but produced only one sack.

The Broncos announced Wednesday that they were intending to cut Gregory and would have paid all $14 million still owed to him this season. Instead, the 49ers were able to convince the Broncos to make a trade and are reportedly taking on just the prorated veteran’s minimum salary of around $840,000. Gregory was in Santa Clara on Friday to take his physical, but Shanahan said Gregory will return to Denver this weekend to pack up for his new home and won’t play for the 49ers against the Cowboys on Sunday.

The 49ers could use some more quality rushers from the edge. After producing five sacks in the season opener at Pittsburgh, San Francisco has tallied only four sacks in the past three weeks combined. Of the nine total sacks, the 49ers have as many from their defensive tackles (three from big free agent pickup Javon Hargrave and one from Kerry Hyder) as they do from their defensive ends (three from Drake Jackson and one from Nick Bosa).

Gregory’s acquisition will, in theory, allow San Francisco to have at least one high-level edge rusher on the field at all times.

While Gregory is still technically under contract for the next three seasons, he has no guaranteed money beyond 2023, meaning the 49ers can effectively treat this acquisition as a rental. If Gregory performs at a high level, San Francisco could decide to keep him next season. If the team decides it would rather use the cap space for other purposes, cutting Gregory won’t hurt it.

It’s not the first time that the 49ers have made a noteworthy in-season trade, either. They’ve done so in most seasons since Shanahan took over as head coach in 2017 — and with great success.

Two of those trades have directly contributed to major runs deep into the playoffs in the years they were made. Back in 2019, the 49ers made another move with the Broncos, acquiring wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and a 2020 fifth-round pick for 2020 third- and fourth-round picks. Sanders was a vital contributor during that season’s run to the Super Bowl.

The 49ers restructured several contracts before the season started and entered Friday with the NFL’s most available cap space, with more than $41 million of room. That’s barely touched by this acquisition because the Broncos are eating most of Gregory’s salary this season. So don’t be surprised if the 49ers look to deal again before the trade deadline, which this year is at 4 p.m. on Oct. 31.