There has been no shortage of rumors and speculation linking the San Francisco 49ers to a litany of edge rushers. If the Niners cannot find an upgrade to pursue quarterbacks opposite Nick Bosa, then this offseason will feel like a disappointment.
Ever since Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett made it public that he wants to be traded, there has been a lot of speculation and trade proposals predicting that he could join the Niners. Garrett's main goal is to win a Super Bowl, so he may be excited at the prospect of joining a team that has been so close to winning the Super Bowl in recent seasons.
Garrett is far from the only edge rusher the Niners have been linked to, though.
If the Los Angeles Chargers choose to move on from defensive end Joey Bosa, it could make a lot of sense for him to reunite with his brother, Nick. A recent trade prediction would make this dream come true for the Bosa brothers.
Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders is another edge rusher who could end up being traded. His future with the Raiders is reportedly up in the air, and Crosby does have a friendship with Nick Bosa, which could make San Francisco an enticing landing spot. Crosby is another player who wants to win above all else, and it is not clear if that is possible so long as he stays in Vegas.
Finally, star defensive end T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers is yet another stand-out edge rusher who has been linked to the Niners. The former 2021 Defensive Player of the Year would wreak some real damage rushing the quarterback.
If the 49ers were able to land anyone on this list of star-studded edge rushers it would represent a massive upgrade over Leonard Floyd. This is no disrespect to Floyd because he is a fine edge rusher, but he is just not at the same talent-level of a Watt or Garrett.
San Francisco needs to improve on defense in 2025 after the unit struggled in 2024. There is arguably no better way to do that than by making the pass rush as formidable as possible. The Philadelphia Eagles showed in their Super Bowl rout of the Kansas City Chiefs how potent a strong four-man rush can be, so the Niners would be wise to get as dominant a front four as possible.
With how many rumors have linked the 49ers to all of these great pass-rushers, it would certainly be disappointing if they are unable to land any of them. With wide receiver Deebo Samuel wanting out of San Francisco, it seems like a golden opportunity to kill two birds with one stone by trading Samuel and some draft picks to one of these teams to land their star edge rusher.
General manager John Lynch surely understands this, so expect him to be working the phones like crazy in the following months to try and get a deal done that has the potential to transform the team's defense.