SANTA CLARA >> The 49ers kept alive an annual ritual of adding a veteran player, beating Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline to acquire defensive tackle Khalil Davis from the Houston Texans, a league source confirmed.

Two hours later, the 49ers further addressed their defensive depth by re-signing safety Tashaun Gipson to the practice squad, a source confirmed.

Otherwise, the 49ers’ latest playoff push will revolve around their own reinforcements, and they may tout the NFL’s biggest midseason upgrade. Running back Christian McCaffrey should make his season debut Sunday when the 49ers (4-4) visit the Tampa Bay Bucs (4-5), so long as McCaffrey’s Achilles issues don’t flare up after this week’s re-entry to practice.

In other moves, linebacker Jalen Graham was waived from the active roster and kicker Anders Carlson was released from the practice squad after two games, a sign that Jake Moody is ready to return from last month’s high ankle sprain.

Gipson, a 49ers starter the past two seasons, was released Monday by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He had been on the NFL’s commissioner’s exempt list in the wake of July’s six-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

Gipson offers veteran experience while the 49ers have relied on young starters Ji’Ayir Brown and Malik Mustapha; former All-Pro safety Talanoa Hufanga is on injured reserve with no guarantees he will return from a wrist injury.

Davis’ arrival bolsters the 49ers’ stock of defensive tackles in the wake of Javon Hargrave’s exit to a torn triceps in Week 3. The need at defensive tackle was glaring, and helping address that will be Davis -- not to be confused with Kalia Davis, the 49ers’ third-year veteran who has played four games on the defensive interior.

Khalil Davis (6-foot-1, 300 pounds) has played 27 games since breaking into the NFL as a 2020 sixth-round pick of the Bucs. That includes 24 games, 22 tackles, three sacks and one start since joining the Houston Texans in 2023 and reviving his career. He also had stints with the Indianapolis Colts (2021), Pittsburgh Steelers (2021, practice squad), the Bucs again (2022, practice squad), the Los Angeles Rams (2022, practice squad) and the 2023 Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League.

The 49ers will still rely heavily on free-agent additions Maliek Collins and Jordan Elliott, with other relief available via Kevin Givens, Evan Anderson and practice-squad options T.Y. McGill and Nesta Jade Silvera. Expected to rejoin the fray as an interior pass rusher is Yetur Gross-Matos, whose recovery from knee surgery had him working on the side Monday.

Left tackle Trent Williams expressed confidence in the 49ers Monday, whether they make major additions or not: “We’ve got more than enough in this locker room to go to war with anybody.”

By mostly idling on trade deadline day, the 49ers must lean on their depth to overcome their two biggest losses in the first half of this season – we’re talking personnel in wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and Hargrave, not their divisional collapses to the Los Angeles Rams and the Arizona Cardinals.