SANTA CLARA — Like everyone else in 49ers country, Trent Williams wasn’t exactly thrilled about the Rams trading for All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett this week.
“It sucks,” said the 49ers left tackle, who now has to deal with the NFL’s best pass rusher twice a year, not counting the playoffs.
Yeah, it does.
And it puts the ball squarely in the court of the 49ers, specifically John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, to make a counter move to pull even with the Rams.
It’s not panic time, necessarily. But the stakes are too high, and the margin for error too thin, for the 49ers to just sit back and do nothing while the Rams continue to put distance between themselves and everyone else in the NFL.
Especially when there is a big move to be made involving an edge rusher every bit as disruptive as Garrett.
His name is Maxx Crosby, he resides just over 500 miles away in Las Vegas, and for the right price, he can be pried away from the rebuilding Raiders.
It’s time to push the chips to the middle of the table, and that means Lynch calling Raiders general manager John Spytek and making an offer.
According to multiple league sources, that deal framework would likely be a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick and young defensive end Mykel Williams for Crosby.
Remember, the Condor began his illustrious career in the Bay Area back in 2019. And he longs to win at the highest level and play on the NFL’s biggest stages.
It’s why he wanted to leave the Raiders last March and welcomed a trade to the Baltimore Ravens.
The chance to be a difference-maker on a playoff-caliber team in meaningful games in January and potentially February burns at his core. Still very much in his prime at 28-years-old, he absolutely deserves the chance to maximize the years he’s still at the top of his game.
The 49ers can make that happen — even if it means giving up some future assets.
Los Angeles has never been worried about trading away draft picks and young players to acquire difference-making talent. In the process, they have beaten the 49ers to the punch on players who could have done for the 49ers what they ultimately did for the Rams.
Lest you forget that infamous night in Cabo five years ago when Shanahan thought the 49ers had the inside track on a trade for Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, only to find out the Rams swooped in and stole him away in a stunning late-night coup.
Next thing you know, Stafford and the Rams were beating the 49ers in the NFC Championship game on their way to a Super Bowl championship.
We may never know the extent to which the 49ers were in the mix for Garrett, but the bottom line is the Rams got it done, and the 49ers didn’t. And right now, Garrett gives the Rams an obvious and important edge in what was an otherwise neck-and-neck race among the upper echelon of the division.
Crosby would help even things up, in a massive way.
Just when the 49ers reopened their Super Bowl window — first by reeling off 13 wins last year, including a road playoff victory against the Eagles, then by adding wide receivers Mike Evans and Christian Kirk, linebacker Dre Greenlaw, and defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa during the offseason — their bitter NFC West rivals traded for one of the game’s most feared game changers.
To say it sent shockwaves throughout the 49ers’ building would be an understatement. In fact, a better description would be complete disbelief that the Rams could pull off such a stunning deal.
“That’s A-I,” 49ers quarterback Mac Jones blurted out when safety Malik Mustapha pulled him aside in a 49ers’ hallway and showed him the news about the blockbuster deal on his phone.
Only for his stomach to sink upon realizing it was absolutely true.
“That roster they’ve built is incredible,” Jones mused.
“The scary part is he’s still a young player,” Williams added. “So he’s still going to get better.”
As disbelieving and disappointed as they are in the Rams’ big addition, the 49ers insist they’re more focused on themselves rather than their SoCal enemies.
“Good for them,” said tight end George Kittle. “Nothing I can do about it.”
Kittle is right, of course. At least for right now, anyway.
Lynch and Shanahan can do something about it, though. Like right now.
Crosby is the perfect counterpunch to Garrett and will team with Nick Bosa to create one of the most lethal pass-rush tandems in the NFL. Yes, he’s coming off offseason knee surgery in January, but by all accounts, he is on track to be cleared for training camp.
He also has a major chip on his shoulder after the Ravens abruptly backed out of the trade they made for him last March, blaming concerns about his knee for their about-face.
Not that the perpetually motivated Crosby needs any more reason to be even more driven, but don’t think for a second he isn’t determined to shove the Ravens’ diss about him straight down their throat.
And it’s going to come at the expense of a bunch of NFL offensive lines and quarterbacks.
San Francisco, which sits roughly $72 million under the salary cap, would be wise to make sure he’s doing that for them, not the Raiders.
The Rams made their move.
Now it’s up to the 49ers to do the same.