The San Francisco 49ers, like the NFL’s other 31 teams, have less than two weeks before they have to trim their rosters down from 90 players to 53 to comply with the league rules heading into the regular season.

San Francisco will have plenty of tough decisions to make, especially considering the absurd number of injuries they’ve dealt with through this point in the preseason.

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While every outlet is putting out their 53-man roster predictions, The San Francisco Standard’s David Lombardi’s caught our eye, as he predicts that the 49ers will trade defensive lineman Jordan Elliott during their roster cutdown.

“What about Elliott, the 49ers’ other veteran on the interior? He might be a trade candidate, especially if Valdez — nicknamed “The Hulk” — forces his way onto the roster,” Lombardi wrote. “That’d be congruent with the 49ers’ offseason maneuverings here, which saw them jettison veteran defensive tackles and replace them with rookies.”

Elliott, 27, played collegiately at Texas in 2016 and Missouri from 2017-19, earning All-SEC honors once. The Cleveland Browns took him in the third round (No. 88 overall) of the 2020 NFL draft and made him a starter midway through his rookie deal.

The 49ers signed Elliott to a two-year, $7 million contract last year, and while he was expected to be a rotational piece in a strong defensive line group in 2024, he ended up playing 41.3% of the team’s defensive snaps due to Kevin Givens and Javon Hargrave.

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San Francisco let Hargrave walk in free agency, but they brought back Givens for another year and drafted Alfred Collins in the second round and C.J. West in the fourth round. With those two rookies setting themselves up to earn significant snaps, and Valdez, who Lombardi mentioned, impressing in training camp and the first preseason game, Elliott may be the odd man out.

The 49ers may be willing to part with Elliott for a draft pick or another player at a position need, such as wide receiver, to help with some depth issues elsewhere.

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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers predicted to trade DL Jordan Elliott ahead of roster cutdown