49ers news: Kerry Hyder is back to bolster defensive line depth

The 49ers still needed to reinforce their depth along the defensive line after inking Javon Hargrave, so bringing Kerry Hyder back makes a lot of sense.

Veteran defensive end Kerry Hyder‘s second stint with the San Francisco 49ers wasn’t quite as explosive as his first.

Then again, the context for Hyder having an explosive 2022 campaign wasn’t quite there.

Hyder actually led the Niners in sacks back in 2020 with 8.5, a career-best mark for him that just so happened to take place when head coach Kyle Shanahan’s team was dealing with more injuries than any other squad in the league.

So, by default, Hyder became the team leader in sacks that year effectively because no one else was available.

Still, 8.5 sacks are no small achievement.

In 2022, after spending a year away and with the Seattle Seahawks, Hyder returned on a one-year deal but had just one sack over 356 defensive snaps. He was in a depth role, however, so the numbers weren’t expected to be that high.

Now, with the 2023 season on the table, the soon-to-be 32-year-old Hyder is back once more.

49ers re-signing Kerry Hyder, per report

Remaining unsigned through the first month of the league new year, NFL free agency didn’t bring Hyder any serious suitors once the window to sign with new teams began back on March 15.

Perhaps this dropped Hyder’s asking price down, and it’s not likely he’d command much more than a veteran’s minimum anyway.

So, according to a Friday report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Hyder is returning to San Francisco again:

Perhaps defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, who helped Hyder get those 8.5 sacks in 2020 and also was his position coach back with the Detroit Lions in 2016, championed the 49ers front office to re-sign Hyder.

Even after the Niners spent big bucks on former Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Javon Hargrave.

Read More: 49ers NFL free agency tracker: Who’s coming, going in 2023?

Hargrave, Arik Armstead, Nick Bosa and Javon Kinlaw all figure to be ahead of Hyder on the depth chart, but as a rotational piece, Hyder is going to be just as important.

And that’s not a bad thing even if his sack totals won’t come close to what they were back in 2020.