The San Francisco 49ers have been banged up on their defensive line this season. Edge rushers like Sam Okuayinonu, and interior defensive linemen like Alfred Collins and James Thompson Jr., have dealt with injuries, so it seems like at some point the Niners are going to have to bring in help from outside the building.
For months, free-agent veteran edge rusher Leonard Floyd has seemed like an obvious addition.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about whether the 49ers have considered adding Floyd, and here is his response from after Sunday's game:
As soon as we lost Sam Okuayinonu, we talked to Leonard [Floyd]. We talked to a couple people. We’ll see how this goes. There’s no one that’s for sure. We’ll see with losing James Thompson possibly today. We’ll see what his ankle injury is. It’s a little different position with inside players, but we lost three guys here in the last two games. So we have to do something eventually.
49ers should sprint to call Leonard Floyd after latest rash of injuries
Floyd makes sense for so many reasons. He's played for the Niners before back in 2024, so he knows where the bathrooms are and everything. Plus, he has played for defensive coordinator Raheem Morris at multiple stops, so he knows exactly what Morris wants out of him.
At the age of 34, Floyd is no spring chicken and had only have 3.5 sacks last season for the Atlanta Falcons. Still, that is respectable and for a 49ers team that was dead last in sacks last season and needs all the depth it can get at edge rusher.
Really, the Niners need to act quickly, because if they don't sign Floyd, someone else will. Floyd used to play for the Los Angeles Rams, and with Myles Garrett missing some time due to a knee procedure, it would not come as a shock to anyone if the Rams swooped in and signed Floyd before San Francisco.
Depth is going to be everything for the 49ers this season. We already knew coming into this campaign that injuries were going to happen, and sure enough, they have come. Now at 2-0 on the season, the Niners look like a legitimate team that can make the playoffs and perhaps even make some noise, so long as they have enough healthy bodies.
Floyd should probably already be signed by the Niners, but the fact Shanahan confirmed they are talking with him suggests a deal is on the table, so general manager John Lynch needs to stop dillydallying and get a deal done.
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