With the San Francisco 49ers set to take on the Seattle Seahawks this Saturday, the Houston Texans may have just gifted the Niners a lifeline ahead of this rematch by releasing edge rusher Darrell Taylor who could help San Francisco in a big way.
San Francisco had a similar opportunity to scoop up a defensive player let go by his team ahead of the playoffs after Trevon Diggs was let go by the Dallas Cowboys and was promptly scooped up by the Green Bay Packers.
Now, the Niners cannot afford to let this opportunity pass.
Taylor just came off IR for the Texans but had not done much this season. In four games, he had no sacks and just three tackles.
However, earlier in his career, he put up solid sacks numbers. In 2022, he had 9.5 sacks with the Seahawks, and last season with the Chicago Bears, he had three sacks.
Those are not other-worldly numbers, but any sort of additional pressure on the quarterback would be welcome for a 49ers team that was dead-last in sacks during the regular season and struggled to get any sort of meaningful pressure at all on the opposing signal-caller.
Of course, a big reason for that had to do with losing Nick Bosa to a torn ACL early in the season and then losing Mykel Williams, the San Francisco's first-round draft pick, to the same injury.
Bryce Huff, Keion White, Clelin Ferrell, and Sam Okuayinonu have done their best to fill in, but the 49ers could benefit from just one extra guy who can get any sort of pressure on the quarterback.
The Niners somehow sacked Sam Darnold twice in Week 18, but one of those sacks came courtesy of linebacker Tatum Bethune, who is now done for the year after a groin injury.
Bethune's replacement, Eric Kendricks, came in and had an incredible game against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round, which shows that the 49ers can scoop guys off the street and get something out of them fairly quickly.
With all of the injuries the Niners have faced, maybe this is a sign they need to make a move. Adding someone like Taylor to the mix could result in just one play that may change the tide of the contest, which can mean everything in a tight playoff contest.
Perhaps this is former San Francisco defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans' way of helping the Niners out a bit after all the bad luck they have had, injury-wise, in 2025.
Taylor would not be a major addition, but in this next-man-up season, the 49ers are going to need every body possible for what is sure to be a tough fight against Seattle.