SANTA CLARA – You don’t have to be an “insider” or a high-profile podcaster to spot the 49ers’ major deficiency last season, aside from their wounded stars and unconquerable NFC West rivals.
Nothing is more defining than their NFL-low 20 sacks.
“We’ve always prided ourselves on our defensive front and getting after people,” general manager John Lynch said Feb. 24 at the NFL scouting combine. “… You’ve got to put the quarterback down and so that’s something that we want to address — and we will address.”
It’s not like they have slouches at defensive end. They just have question marks.
The quizzical quartet: Nick Bosa, Mykel Williams, Bryce Huff and Keion White.
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Free agency yields the 49ers’ first path to contingency plans and enhanced depth, though the historically more desired option is via next month’s NFL Draft.
Here are players to watch once free agency talks begin Monday, with signings allowed Wednesday:
ARNOLD EBIKETIE
This 27-year-old Cameroon native may not be a household name, but he is known to new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, who coached the Atlanta Falcons the past two seasons while Ebiketie finished out his rookie contract. His slighter frame (6-foot-2, 250 pounds) is offset by elite get-off speed the 49ers covet. A modest 16 ½ career sacks should keep him in the 49ers’ price range, which is the second tier they’ll likely seek in free agency.
JOEY BOSA
This might be the last chance at a long-sought Bosa-brothers union, although mom Cheryl isn’t a fan of the NFL sending the 49ers abroad to both Australia and Mexico. Joey, who turns 31 on July 11, has never been to a conference championship game. After nine years as the Chargers’ No. 3 overall pick in 2016, he headed to Buffalo, forced a league-high five fumbles and recorded five sacks (but none in their two playoff games). His final move: chucking his helmet at the tunnel’s wall as he and the Bills walked into Denver’s visiting locker room.
MAXX CROSBY
You really think the Raiders would trade him to the 49ers? That minority owner Tom Brady, fresh off producing a documentary on the 49ers’ 1980s dynasty for AMC, would ship his best player to his native Bay Area? That the 49ers would add a $30 million salary to their defensive front in 2026?
TREY HENDRICKSON
Like Crosby, Hendrickson will command a top-tier contract befitting an elite defensive end who made four straight Pro Bowls and 2024 All-Pro honors before a core-muscle issue shut him down after seven games last season. Last meeting with the 49ers, he had a strip-sack of Brock Purdy in a 2023 Bengals win at Levi’s Stadium. He has gone to the playoffs in six of nine seasons.
JONATHAN GREENARD
Two years ago, Greenard joined the Vikings as a marquee free agent under then-general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who returned to the 49ers this offseason as Minnesota reportedly shops Greenard. Greenard’s value shot up with 12 ½ sacks in 2023 with the Houston Texans under first-year coach DeMeco Ryans, formerly the 49ers’ defensive coordinator. He had 12 sacks in his 2024 Vikings debut, but just three sacks in 12 games last season.
EX-NINERS
Morris’ takeover of the defense won’t mean they abandon the Wide-9 alignment of their defensive ends, Lynch said. But the 49ers and Morris covet variety, and surely familiarity. This year’s market is expected to enlist ex-Niners in Arden Key, Samson Ebukam, Charles Omenihu and Leonard Floyd.
FORMER PRO BOWLERS
Aside from the aforementioned, this free agency crop includes veterans who come with Pro Bowl credentials that might attract the fame-chasing 49ers’ front office for a last-gasp title run: Khalil Mack (Chargers), Haason Reddick (Bucs), Cameron Jordan (Saints), Bradley Chubb (Dolphins), Matt Judon (Bills), Von Miller (Commanders) and Kyle Van Noy (Ravens).
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