Lynch confident injured 49ers stars returning offers trade-like boost originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Should the 3-4 49ers explore trades before the Nov. 5 NFL trade deadline?
San Francisco president of football operations/general manager John Lynch believes the 49ers should look internally first.
In appearing on KNBR’s “Murph & Markus” show on Friday, Lynch explained why the 49ers don’t have to harp on external opportunities just yet.
“When I look at our trade deadline, I look at our IR list and I say, ‘[Christian] McCaffrey. [Dre] Greenlaw. [Yetur] Gross-Matos. [Talanoa] Hufanga.’ You know, if we can get those guys back, I think that’s the boost we need as much as anybody we’re going to bring in from the outside,” Lynch told Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher. “So, we got a good group of players, and hopefully, we can start getting some of these guys back while we remain healthy.”
It understandably is hard to assess the 49ers when their stars aren’t available. However, it isn’t difficult to recognize what San Francisco can be when healthy.
The list Lynch recited, which also includes 49ers guard Jon Feliciano, has the talent to turn San Francisco’s season around. And it won’t be long before the reinforcements are ready to contribute.
“Absolutely,” Lynch said about the likelihood of injured 49ers players returning this season. “Yeah. Very much so. Where those timelines are, I think we’re getting closer on all of them. They’re all trending in really good directions.
“We want to make sure that when we have them back, we have them back for good. That would be a boost. Those are really good players that I mentioned. … For all those guys, you have to create spots. But they’re players worthy of creating spots. That will give us a big boost. But right now we need to focus with the team we have and finding a way to win.”
While health is most important to San Francisco’s potential second-half run, Lynch didn’t close the door on a move before the trade deadline.
“We’ll see,” Lynch said about trades. “I think our track record has shown we’re always going to field calls, we’re always going to make calls [and] see what’s out there, and if we can improve our team, we will. But I do like this group.”
The 49ers still could make a splash; last year it was thought to be defensive end Chase Young, who didn’t pan out.
But the clock is ticking.
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