San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch is making good on his promise to shop for a big-name trade acquisition if the team “earned” it through their play.

In an interview with KNBR’s Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher on Thursday, the Niners executive said he’s having “good and productive” conversations about making a trade this season, specifically regarding the vacancy left at edge rusher after Nick Bosa’s season-ending injury. Lynch added the caveat that they’re looking for someone in a “premium position,” making a trade easier said than done, but he’ll still be working the phones through the Nov. 4 deadline.

“I’ve been very clear: You’re not going to find a player that’s going to go replace Nick Bosa, and be as effective as him,” Lynch said. “That’s really difficult to do. But can you find someone who makes the entirety of our group better, such that collectively we’re better? That’s more in line with what we’re looking for. There’s so many variables and you gotta find a partner that makes sense — all those things.

“But there’s plenty of discussions. Right now I’m real proud of the way — the effort our guys are playing with. And if we find a way to make our football team better, and it aligns, then we will not be shy on pulling the trigger.”

The 49ers’ front office may certainly be more inspired to look for a trade given the NFL landscape right now. Ahead of San Francisco’s Thursday night win against the Rams last week, Lynch said in an interview that the team had to “earn the right” for a trade to happen. Given that the Niners are 4-1 despite the myriad injuries the roster has suffered, and have a firm grip on the division after the win in Los Angeles against the Rams, it’s safe to say that box has been checked.

As for whom the Niners could be gunning for, the true rumors have been few and far between — which is not to say the social media speculation hasn’t been rampant. San Francisco Standard columnist Tim Kawakami was able to coax out minimum requirements of whom the Niners could be interested in from head coach Kyle Shanahan during a press conference Wednesday. The veteran Bay Area sports media figure asked Shanahan if the team’s stellar record increased his desire in a trade.

“Not really,” Shanahan said. “What increases my interest is who is the guy who can absolutely help us get better this year without hurting us next year, and you balance both of those out. But there’s got to be a guy available and sometimes it’s two different things, sometimes there’s only one guy who can help this year and sometimes there isn’t a guy available who’s like that.”

Kawakami might know just the guy for the job. In the wake of Bosa’s injury, he wrote a column for the Standard that suggested the Niners could go after Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. The 2024 All-Pro player meets all of those requirements. Not only is his talent enough to make the Niners better this season, but he’s also on an expiring contract for a bad team, meaning a trade package for him might not be too expensive — which would meet Shanahan’s “without hurting us next year” threshold.

Whether he’s available would be up to the brass at Cincinnati, though that group has already decided against extending their star rusher and now risks losing him for nothing in the offseason. The last big midseason swing for an elite-level talent was in 2022 for Christian McCaffrey, a trade that more than paid off. Could history repeat itself for San Francisco this season on the defensive front? The organization has 26 days to start answering that question.