This is one of the strangest things the 49ers did this offseason, and they've done some whoppers so far.
On March 11, they released veteran defensive end Leonard Floyd and took on an $8.632 million dead cap hit to do so. Floyd is 32, but he hasn't missed a game since 2017 and he recorded 8.5 sacks last season, second-most on the 49ers behind Nick Bosa who had 9. He's a solid, consistent player on a team that has tons of injury issues.
When the 49ers released Floyd, they reportedly tried to sign Nick Bosa's brother, Joey Bosa, who's injured often. So that seems to be the main reason Floyd got cut -- so the 49ers could scrape together enough cash to make Nick Bosa's brother an offer.
Ultimately, the offer wasn't big enough, so Joey Bosa signed a one-year, $12.6 million deal with the Bills. Meanwhile, Floyd signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Falcons and the 49ers signed no one to replace him.
Now, the 49ers starting defensive end opposite Nick Bosa is Yetur Gross-Matos who has just 17 sacks in five seasons. Behind Gross-Matos, the 49ers have Drake Jackson, who might never play again after tearing a quad tendon in 2023 and missing all of 2024.
So, in addition to drafting two plug-and-play Day 1 starters at defensive tackle, the 49ers also need to draft a starting defensive end all because they released the one they had simply to try to sign another one they couldn't afford.
Priceless.
