With the date for San Francisco 49ers training camp right around the corner on Tuesday July 22, 2025, the 49ers roster is all but set.
Free agency has mostly died down, the 2025 NFL Draft came and went, and 49ers fans are gearing up to see the players under contract participate in 2025 Training Camp.
But, free agency is never truly over, and there are always players hoping to find a home — and teams looking to fill a need.
Heading into the 2025 season, many Niner fans and football experts feel really nervous about the defensive tackle room.
The 49ers lost two stars at the position in Maliek Collins and Javon Hargrave and only added rookies to replace them: Alfred Collins and CJ West. They have no returners with much experience either.
It’s such a shaky situation that ESPN even recently said the 49ers have the worst defensive tackle room in the entire NFL.
The 49ers can’t do anything drastic to fix this issue ahead of the season, and let’s face it, they don’t have the budget to do anything drastic anyway. But a proven, reliable, durable veteran DT would do wonders for the 49ers. That way, if Collins and West don’t pan out, the 49ers at least have an insurance policy that they can rely on to play solid football.
Such an insurance policy exists. To help their defensive line problem, the 49ers should sign veteran DT Austin Johnson.
Austin Johnson’s Resumé
Austin Johnson was the 43rd overall pick in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans.
Since then, Johnson has played for four teams: the Titans, the New York Giants, the Los Angeles Chargers and the Buffalo Bills.
In 7 of his last 8 seasons, Johnson has played in 15 or more games. He has also proven that he can be a reliable starter; in 2021 for the Giants and 2023 for the Chargers he started all 17 games.
In 2024 with Buffalo, Johnson was a key rotational player for a playoff team. It was his first season as a backup since 2020 so his numbers took a bit of a hit. But he did record the first two interceptions of his career, a fun development in his pass defense.
Johnson is not the kind of player who is going to stuff the stat sheet. But he’s only 31 years old, he was a starter as recently as 2023 and a rotational player in a great defense in 2024. He can still contribute at an NFL level and definitely has years left in his physical prime to do so.
And since he is still a free agent this late in the game, with teams everywhere starting their respective training camps, he’ll likely sign for relatively cheap. So the 49ers should make the easy decision and sign Johnson.
Key Dates for 49ers Training Camp
The 49ers have 11 days that 2025 Training Camp at the SAP Performance Facility is open to the fans.
The second day of open practice, on July 24, 2025, is only open to season ticket members.
Sunday July 27, 2025 should be a special day of camp, as it is part of NFL Network’s televised “Back Together” weekend.
But perhaps the most special day of 49ers training camp for the fans is on August 7, 2025 (8/7). That is what’s known as Dwight Clark day. The 49ers will have several festivities to honor Dwight Clark and several 49ers alumni will be in attendance.
49ers training camp tickets are sold out on the official website but fans can look for tickets on the resale market.
49ers fans, are you attending training camp this season? Would you like to see Austin Johnson among the 49ers players at camp this season?
