Figuring out a way to have the Bosa brothers as bookends on the defensive line was a great idea for fantasy football.
In the reality that is 2024 NFL free agency, getting Leonard Floyd for a reported two years and $20 million looks like a winner in terms of both common sense and business sense.
Danielle Hunter of Minnesota, whose last contract prohibited the franchise tag, was speculated as top target for the 49ers, as well as bringing in Joey Bosa to pair with Nick, or perhaps Khalil Mack. Both Chargers edge players are under contract, Bosa for $15 million in 2024 and $17 million in 2025, and Mack is owed $17.5 on the last year of his deal.
We’ll see what Hunter brings in, but it’s likely well exceed Floyd’s number. And there’s no telling what Joey Bosa and Mack would want in terms of a contract upgrade if traded or even released to be a free agent.
Floyd comes in at a rate where he can be strictly a situational rusher. He’s 31, but hasn’t missed a game due to injury since 2018 and had 10 1/2 sacks from the edge for Buffalo last season. It was the most since he had 10 1/2 for the Rams in 2020 when his defensive coordinator was Brandon Staley, who is now on the 49ers staff as a defensive assistant.
The 49ers didn’t stop at Floyd. They also agreed to terms with Yetur Gross-Matos from Carolina, a 25-year-old edge who was a second-round draft pick from Penn State in 2020, on a two-year deal worth a reported $18 million. Gross-Matos arrives as more of a developmental player than Floyd, given that he’s played a full season just once in four seasons and has 13 career sacks.
Considering the edge market, with Brian Burns getting traded from the Jaguars to Giants and getting a five-year, $150 million deal and Jonathan Greenard (Vikings; four years, $76 million) and Bryce Huff (Eagles; three years, $51 million), cashing in on big deals, Floyd’s deal is the kind of short-term, produce-now acquisition for a team that has been either in the Super Bowl or a step away in four of the last five seasons.
Eight other observations as the negotiating period in free agency got off to a lightning start with no signings official until the start of the new league year on Wednesday:
— The door was finally officially closed Monday on the Kirk Cousins-Kyle Shanahan reunion that has been speculated upon since the two worked together in Washington under Mike Shanahan in 2013.
It was pretty much shut once the 49ers determined they’d hit the lottery with Brock Purdy, because up to that point, Shanahan’s eye may or may not have been wandering in the direction of Cousins. Cousins broke the bank when he agreed to a four-year contract worth as much as $180 million with the Atlanta Falcons. He’ll average $45 million per season and was guaranteed a reported $100 million.
All for a quarterback who will turn 36 in August, was already limited in terms of mobility and is coming off an Achilles’ tear.
The scary part for the 49ers comes next season when Purdy becomes eligible for an extension. See those contract numbers for Cousins? A year from now, Purdy could match or exceed those based on his 2024 season. Then in terms of assembling a roster, it’s a whole different ballgame.
— Keep the fates of Arik Armstead and Aaron Jones in mind the next time you hear a coach or G.M. extoll the virtues of character, integrity and a team-first mentality. The 49ers defensive tackle and the Packers running back were deified by their respective organizations right up to the point where they got too expensive or didn’t fit in with the plan. Now they’re looking for new homes.
Running back Aaron Jones (33) takes a handoff from Jordan Love (10) in a playoff game on Jan. 20 against the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group
— Running backs are on the move — Saquon Barkley from the Giants to the Eagles, Josh Jacobs from the Raiders to the Packers, Devin Singletary from the Giants to the Vikings. and Austin Ekeler from the Chargers to Commodores. None will approach Christian McCaffrey’s $16 million average salary.
And McCaffrey’s a bargain. He got bypassed in terms of APY (average per year) by Deebo Samuel last year and he could get passed by Brandon Aiyuk this season assuming an extension is on the way.
— Tight end Charlie Woerner (three years, $12 million) departed for Atlanta to take what he’s learned from George Kittle and go out on his own and show he can do more than just block. Woerner or no Woerner, the 49ers need a second receiving tight end threat to go along with Kittle, and it’s impossible to know whether 2023 picks Brayden Willis and Cameron Latu are up to it.
— The open market looks better in terms of safeties than corners, with the 49ers looking for both if they’re not bringing back Tashaun Gipson Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (Detroit), Kamron Curl (Washington) and Justin Simmons (Denver) are available to pair Ji’Ayir Brown and a recovering Talanoa Hufanga.
As for corners, Xavier McKinney got a four-year, $68 million from Green Bay, which in the post-Ted Thompson era is actually signing free agents. Look for the 49ers to extend Deommodore Lenoir and find another corner in the draft or a fringe free agent.
— Putting a second-round tender (at $4.9 million) on Jauan Jennings means he’s unlikely to get an offer sheet since the team that signs him would have to give the 49ers a second-round selection. It qualifies as putting their money where their mouth is for a player who epitomizes their commitment to physicality among their wide receivers.
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— Sam Darnold would seem to be a natural to wind up in Minnesota replacing Cousins. The 49ers brought back Brandon Allen if that’s the case. But if Darnold is left standing in the game of quarterback musical chairs, there are worse jobs than being Purdy’s backup.
— History suggests to be very skeptical when it comes to the Raiders and free agency, and just because they hitched their wagon to Garoppolo last year. Pairing defensive tackle Christian Wilkins (Miami) with Maxx Crosby looks like a master stroke from a distance.
But things aren’t always as they seem with the Raiders They won 12 games in 2016 after signing Rodney Hudson the previous year and then Kelechi Osemele. But their history is littered with wasted dollars on the likes of Tyrell Williams, Sean Smith, Gibril Wilson, Lamarcus Joyner, Maliek Collins, Cory Littleton and others.