There’s no bigger question mark on the 49ers’ roster than the interior of the offensive line, where the competition at left guard was uninspiring and they lost the player brought in to back up center to an apparently severe concussion.
They potentially addressed two birds with one stone Sunday, shortly before trimming their roster to 53 players, by trading for a veteran offensive lineman with experience at both spots.
San Francisco sent a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Texans for Jarrett Patterson, a 26-year-old former sixth-round pick who has appeared in 39 career games, including 21 starts.
Ian Rapoport of ESPN and NFL Network was the first to report the trade, which has not been announced yet by either team. It won’t become official until after the initial 53-man rosters are finalized Sunday, and then San Francisco will have to add Patterson to its active roster.
Patterson’s primary duty is expected to be backing up center Jake Brendel. The 49ers brought in Brett Toth as a free agent to fulfill that role, but he suffered a concussion early in camp and on Sunday was one of two linemen to land on season-ending injured reserve.
Patterson has experience at center, as well as left guard, where rookie Carver Willis has appeared to have the upper hand over Connor Colby, though both made the 53-man roster.
Coach Kyle Shanahan hasn’t seemed thrilled about his options at left guard. Austen Pleasants got a look before he was placed on IR with the designation to return, and Robert Jones, who was brought in as an experienced external option, was released as one of the 49ers’ cuts.
They could try out Patterson at left guard, but that would leave them without a backup center. In addition to losing Toth to IR, they waived third-string center Jake Nugent and placed another backup interior lineman, Nick Zakelj, on season-ending IR, as well.
There was no position group that saw as much moving and shaking on cutdown day, and it’s no surprise given that it has been the least settled spot on the Niners’ roster for all of training camp.
At the least, they needed a warm body. And there’s reason to believe Patterson can be something more. At 6-foot-4, 310 pounds, he was drafted 201st overall out of Notre Dame in 2023 and immediately became the Texans’ starting center as a rookie.
He started eight games before fracturing his fibula, ending his season, made nine more starts in 2024 and started four games at left guard in 2025. The Texans’ offensive coordinator at the time was Bobby Slowik, the former 49ers’ offensive assistant, which should ease the adjustment.
Patterson was listed behind two others at right guard on the Texans’ unofficial depth chart.
