John Lynch Finally Breaks Down the Keion White Trade and Reveals What It Means for the 49ers Before the Deadline.QQ
Getty
The San Francisco 49ers acquired defensive end Keion White from the New England Patriots for two late-round draft picks and Niners head man John Lynch shared how that came about.
Lynch, 49ers president of football operations and general manager, appeared Thursday on KNBR’s “Murph and Markus” radio show.
White has been a productive player in his two and a half NFL seasons, posting his best campaign in 2024 when he started 13 games for the Patriots and registered five sacks. He also had 56 tackles, 16 quarterback hits and two forced fumbles.
White Left a Good Impression on Niners
Radio hosts Brian Murphy and Markus spoke to Lynch by phone and asked him how the White trade came about.
“We’ve been looking at this whole defensive end, this defensive line,” Lynch said. “Really at the trade deadline, you’re looking at everything. We have a focus on that position and Keion was a guy when we have an alignment, we really hit it a high rate.
“He played extremely well last year. Played really well against us. So those things tend to stick with you and make an impression upon you.”
White hasn’t played much for the Patriots and head coach Mike Vrabel this season, but that’s because White didn’t fit New England’s new scheme, Lynch said. Vrabel and Lynch spoke by phone.
Getty
GLENDALE, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 15: Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals escapes a tackle attempt by Keion White #99 of the New England Patriots in the first quarter of the game at State Farm Stadium on December 15, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images)
“We felt comfortable and felt he’s a guy who could really help us,” Lynch said. “The really cool thing about Keion is he’s got this year and next year, he’s not just a rental. We think we can really untap some of his limitless potential. We’re excited about it and now Keion’s gotta assimilate quickly.”
At 5–3, San Francisco remains firmly in the NFC playoff hunt. However, the team is battling a wave of injuries unlike any other. All-Pros Nick Bosa and Fred Warner are sidelined for the rest of the 2025 season, dealing a major blow to the defense. On offense, quarterback Brock Purdy continues to manage a nagging turf toe injury, and the receiving corps has also been hit hard by injuries.
While the path to a Super Bowl now looks steeper than it did at the start of the season, that remains the ultimate goal every year under head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Niners Could Make More Moves
The 49ers may not be finished making moves before the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 4.
“I’ll never say never, because we still have some time left on this deadline,” Lynch said. “But we’re also in a situation — at the end, you sit down and say, ‘OK, what are we looking for?’ We weren’t completely opposed to it, but we’d like whoever we trade for to be here for more than just the remainder of this year. So, you get some opportunity of time working in.”
“We also want to keep our draft picks,” he added. “We just saw what we could do with a lot of draft picks; we have that next year as well, and we don’t want to eat into that too much. We wanted to bolster our team for this year, and we feel like we’ve done that.”
