49ers free agency: 5 surprise players Niners may add in 2021
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: 49ers bolster the pass rush with Clay Matthews
One of the areas where the Niners hurt for depth last season was in the pass-rush department, almost entirely stemming from edge rushers Nick Bosa and Dee Ford suffering season-ending injuries early in the year.
This led to a rotating door of additions and subtractions throughout 2020, which included EDGEs Ezekiel Ansah, Jordan Willis, Takkarist McKinley and others, none of whom panned out as viable every-down options.
There was an argument San Francisco should have targeted then-free-agent EDGE Clay Matthews, who never signed anywhere in 2020 despite coming off a 2019 campaign with the Los Angeles Rams where he recorded eight sacks.
At 34 years old, Matthews is nothing close to the perennial Pro Bowler he was in his heyday with the Green Bay Packers. But with Ford’s status for the upcoming season fully in doubt, as he recovers from a serious back injury, the 49ers could look for significantly cheaper options in the pass-rushing department to pair with Bosa.
After failing to ink a deal anywhere else last season, there’s a much better chance Matthews wouldn’t cost the kind of money many of the other upper-level pass-rushers in a loaded free-agent class will get this offseason.