After a disappointing 2024 season that saw them finish 6-11, the San Francisco 49ers had a mass exodus on the defensive side of the ball in free agency last month, leaving the team in a precarious position heading into the 2025 NFL Draft.
The 49ers’ defense at all three levels, including the defensive line, was stripped down, leaving Pro Bowler Nick Bosa and veteran Yetur Gross-Matos as the best options. San Fran fans don’t have to worry about Bosa, who has constantly performed at a high level over his career.
However, 49ers fans were not too pleased with Gross-Matos’ performance last season after the team signed him to a two-year, $18 million contract in March of 2024.
Before arriving in the Bay Area, the 27-year-old defensive end had 30 combined tackles, 19 tackles for loss, and 13 sacks in four seasons with the Carolina Panthers (55 games). The most sacks he had in a season with the Panthers was in 2023 (4.5).
Fast forward to last season, where Gross-Matos produced 19 combined tackles, seven QB hits, six tackles for loss, and four sacks in 11 games.
The former Panthers pass rusher missed five games because of knee surgery. If you are the 49ers' front office and coaching staff, you likely thought Gross-Matos could be a nice low-risk, high-reward signing, but it did not pan out that way.
Granted, some might say four sacks in 11 games is still solid for a player that got hurt. However, three of those four sacks came in one game (Week 14 vs. the Chicago Bears).
According to Pro Football Focus, the veteran defensive end had a 59.4 pass rush grade (ranked 108th out of 211 qualified EDGEs) but a terrible 46.6 run defense grade (186th), making him more of a pass rush specialist and not a three-down player.
However, given the current state of the 49ers’ defensive line, Gross-Matos is potentially in line to start opposite Bosa this upcoming season.
That’s a tall task for a defensive lineman who has been a full-time starter once in his career (2022). And not to mention, Gross-Matos has a $9.47 million cap hit for this upcoming season.
If that does happen, 49ers fans won’t be happy, and their patience will wear thin if Gross-Matos doesn’t play well out the gate in Week 1.