49ers must pay necessary price to maximize Super Bowl window
The 49ers should have more than a passing interest in Sunday’s game between the Raiders and Jets.Two players on that field could help them close the agonizing distance between nearly winning a Super Bowl and finally getting their hands on the trophy.Garrett Wilson will wear green and white.Maxx Crosby will wear silver and black.The 49ers should consider what either would look like in scarlet and gold.With just over a week before the Nov.
10 trade deadline, they have earned the right to think big.A 6-1 start has put another championship opportunity within reach.The 49ers owe it to themselves to grab it with both hands.They have been too close, too often, to approach this moment any other way.
They have stood on the doorstep, watched leads disappear and walked off the biggest stage knowing how little separated them from a celebration.Those losses linger.So do the questions about the play, possession or player that might have changed everything.Now they have another opening.
Another legitimate path to the championship.Another chance to make sure this era is remembered for more than how close the 49ers came.That should frame every conversation they have between now and the deadline.Including calls to the Jets about Wilson and the Raiders about Crosby.The competition certainly isn’t standing still.
The Bears pushed their chips to the middle of the table by trading for Jeffery Simmons.The Seahawks made their move by acquiring Quenton Nelson.
The Rams expect to get Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie, their two big-ticket acquisitions, back on the field together.And anyone assuming the Rams won’t eventually be the Rams and put together a run is being naive.Those are potential obstacles between the 49ers and the Super Bowl, and each has reason to believe its best football is ahead.
It is incumbent on them to respond.Khalil Mack would be a nice addition, but nice might not be enough.
The 49ers should be thinking about a move that makes their competition worry about...