The 49ers had a hole along the defensive line. They made a move to fill it Wednesday afternoon.
According to NFL Network insider Tom Peliserro, the 49ers agreed to terms with defensive end Austin Bryant.
Bryant was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. He played collegiately at Clemson University where he was a teammate of Clelin Ferrell, another recent free agent addition of San Francisco.
Despite showing flashes of reaching his potential, Bryant has struggled to stay healthy. Over four seasons in the Motor City he made just six starts in 33 games.
His healthiest season came in 2021 when he played 14 games, including five starts.
In his career Bryant has recorded 65 total tackles including seven for loss, 4.5 sacks and 11 quarterback hits.
Bryant will likely need to beat Alex Barrett and a rookie draft pick if he is to join Nick Bosa, Drake Jackson, and Ferrell in the 49ers rotation at defensive end.
Additions
DT Javon Hargrave (Eagles: Four years, $84 million, $40 million guaranteed at signing)
QB Sam Darnold (Panthers: One-year, $4.5 million. Potential for up to $11.5 million with incentives)
DL Clelin Ferrell (Raiders: One-year, $2.5 million, $1.82 million guaranteed at signing)
DB Isaiah Oliver (Falcons: Two years, $6.65 million, $2.91 guaranteed at signing)
DB Myles Hartsfield (Panthers: One year, $1.01 million)
OL Jon Feliciano (Giants: One year, $2.25 million, contract is fully guaranteed)
DE Austin Bryant (Lions: One year, terms not disclosed)
Re-Signed
TE Ross Dwelley (One-year, $1.7 million)
LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (One-year, $1.835 million, $1.25 million fully guaranteed)
DL T.Y. McGill (One-year, $1.165 million)
C Jake Brendel (Four years, $8 million guaranteed, max value of $20 million)
S Tashaun Gipson (One-year, $2.9 million)
OL Colton McKivitz (Two years, $4.56 million, $2.87 million guaranteed, $1.87 million guaranteed at signing)
DL Kevin Givens (One-year, $2 million, fully guaranteed)
LS Taybor Pepper (Three years, $3.96 million, $1.5 million fully guaranteed)
Losses
QB Jimmy Garoppolo (Raiders: Three years, $72.75 million, $33.75 guaranteed at signing)
OT Mike McGlinchey (Broncos: Five-years, $87.5 million, $17.5 million signing bonus, $52.5 million guaranteed)
DT Hassan Ridgeway (Texans: One-year, up to $4 million, $3 million guaranteed at signing)
FS Jimmie Ward (Texans: Two years, $13 million, $8.5 million fully guaranteed at signing)
CB Emmanuel Moseley (Lions: One-year, $6 million)
LB Azeez Al-Shaair (Titans: One year, worth up to $6 million, $4.25 million guaranteed)
DE Samson Ebukam (Colts: Three years, $24 million with $10.755 guaranteed)
OL Daniel Brunskill (Titans: Two years, $5.5 million with $1.5 million guaranteed)
DE Charles Omenihu (Chiefs: Two years, $20 million, $8.6 million guaranteed)
S Tarvarius Moore (Packers: one year, $1.13 million)
DT Maurice Hurst (Browns: one year, $1.08 million)
DE Jordan Willis (Raiders: one year, $1,156,250)
Pending Free Agents
K Robbie Gould
DE Kerry Hyder
TE Tyler Kroft
QB Josh Johnson
CB Jason Verrett
Depth Chart
Here is how I see the 49ers depth chart at this time. I will update this throughout the offseason and training camp. Players with new contracts will be in bold.
| Offense | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 |
| Quarterback | Brock Purdy | Trey Lance | Sam Darnold | |
| Running Back | Christian McCaffrey | Elijah Mitchell | Jordan Mason | Ty Davis-Price |
| Fullback | Kyle Juszczyk | |||
| LWR | Brandon Aiyuk | Danny Gray | ||
| RWR | Deebo Samuel | Jauan Jennings | Ray-Ray McCloud | |
| TE | George Kittle | Charlie Woerner | Ross Dwelley | |
| Left Tackle | Trent Williams | |||
| Left Guard | Aaron Banks | |||
| Center | Jake Brendel | Nick Zakelj | ||
| Right Guard | Spencer Burford | Jon Feliciano | ||
| Right Tackle | Colton McKivitz | Jaylon Moore |
| Defense | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 |
| LDE | Drake Jackson | Clelin Ferrell | |
| LDT | Javon Hargrave | Javon Kinlaw | T.Y. McGill |
| RDT | Arik Armstead | Kevin Givens | Kalia Davis |
| RDE | Nick Bosa | Austin Bryant | |
| WLB | Dre Greenlaw | Oren Burks | |
| MLB | Fred Warner | Marcelino McCray-Ball | |
| SLB | Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles | ||
| LCB | Deommodore Lenoir | Ambry Thomas | |
| SS | Talanoa Hufanga | Myles Hartsfield | |
| FS | Tashaun Gipson | George Odum | |
| RCB | Charvarius Ward | ||
| NB | Isaiah Oliver | Samuel Womack | |
| Special Teams | Player 1 | |||||
| Kicker | ||||||
| Punter | Mitch Wishnowsky | |||||
| Long Snapper |
Taybor Pepper
|
|||||
| Reserves | ||||||
| Alfredo Gutierrez (OL) | Curtis Robinson (LB) | Alex Barrett (DE) | Jason Poe (OL) | A.J. Parker (CB) | ||
| Qwuantrezz Knight (DB) | Tayler Hawkins (S) | Keith Ismael (OC) | Leroy Watson (OL) | Tay Martin (WR) | ||
| Dazz Newsome (WR) | Tyron Johnson (WR) | Tre Swilling (CB) | ||||
We have a long history of injured players (7th in the league), do we need another player like that?
BTW where do you think KC ranks?
https://www.ohbets.com/most-injury-prone-nfl-teams/
Gotta give KC their due. They’ve become an amazing franchise.
Gotta give KC their due. They’ve become an amazing franchise. It’s not just Mahomes.It all starts at the top.
We used to have a culture that was the envy of the league.
KC has been developing for years and the SB didn’t fall into place until Mahomes came along. They kept on trying it with our old QBs, starting with Montana.
I do wonder what it is that makes a team less prone to injury.
Is it the prep, workouts or the plays? Maybe the after care, coaching or culture?
Bryant is a good player. My boyfriend ninermd is a Clemson fan and followed Bryant’s career. He has nothing but good things to say about him. I am glad we are willing to give him a shot as a depth piece.
I think Bryant may just be camp fodder. It would not surprise me if the 49ers drafted 2 DEs they along with Alex Barrett make Bryant’s chances pretty slim. Barrett is an interesting case, he has looked good in each of the last 3 preseasons the 49ers have kept him around for most of 4 seasons consistently activating him, releasing him and resigning him. they seem to value keeping him around. I would love to see the 9ers draft either Zach Harrison, Brenton Cox or Byron Young with one of their 3rd round picks.
Jack, i saw your comment about Ngakoue being a bad fit, claiming it would be an indictment on Drake Jackson……and i couldn’t disagree more!
First, lets talk modern D vs Old school D……………old school was about physical dominance! Hard hits meant to punish!
Punish the ball carrier., punish the wr and punish the qb when you can. Ferocious hits for 3 hours! Think-2000 Ravens, ’86 Bears.
Modern D is about relentless pass rush. Mostly due tot the fact that all the old school brutal hitting is outlawed in the modern game!
The best version of this modern style of D ive ever seen……..our 2019 version……WHEN DEE FORD WAS HEALTHY. That was only about half the year…..but when that guy was on the field………well it was in another stratosphere! I’ll never forget the sight of Rodgers taking the snap ……and falling into the fetal position to avoid being pulverized !
My theory- 3 stud pass rushers!
Bosa, Buckner and Ford…….just too much for the oline. you can double team one guy……you can even account for 2 by doubling one and chipping the other………..but 3?! No chance!
YN is only 27, i cant believe he wasn’t one of the first FA’s to sign. That guy should have gotten 5 years $100 mil easy!
Him, Bosa and Hargrave……lights out!
No one else on that D front would EVER SEE A DOUBLE TEAM!!! and that would help Jackson develop alo.ng with everyone else. You can never have enough depth at pass rusher…..and that is the key to a dominant modern defense!
Other than superstar qb…….having multiple star pass rushers is another thing all recent successful teams and SB champs have in common.
We could give YN a 4-6 year deal and back load it to make the cap hit work. Im still holding out hope.
My tweet had nothing to do with it being an indictment of Jackson. Ngakoue has never been a “situational” pass rusher. If they choose to sign him as a starter, I would say it’s a good deal.
Jack, being the “starter” in name is fine with me. In reality i would like to see tremendous depth on the Dline and therefore lots of rotating. It would also make sense to have a bigger DE to defend the run on base downs/obvious run situations.
Ngakoue isn’t good against the run, he’s the opposite.
Ferrell is good against the run and a solid backup. Bryant has shown flashes, he just needs to stay healthy.
Jack, i totally agree! Not sure if my comment was clear. I wasn’t referring to YN as the run defending DE. Maybe Ferrell, Bryant or even Armstead. If it is AA….that would indicate one of the young DTs has really stepped up!
J,
Why do you think YN hasn’t signed yet?
OC, my hope is that he has a deal in place with us……and maybe the delay in announcing has to do with waiting until it has no affect on all the comp picks we are in line for next year. Or waiting for cap space to be cleared.
It is possible he asked for too much $. I was wondering if he has any off the field issues…….on that note i remember a pass rusher who forced his way out of Jacksonville. Not sure if it was him. Jalen Ramsy did, and it didn’t affect him any. It is bizarre…..thats all i know for sure.