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CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr recently ranked the five smartest free agency deals ever, with one San Francisco 49ers acquisition making the cut. Kerr ranked the team’s signing of defensive end Leonard Floyd as the second-best move, trailing only the acquisition of Daniel Hunter from the Houston Texans.
San Francisco inked Floyd to a two-year, $20 million deal at the start of free agency, adding a perfect complement to a defensive line that includes Nick Bosa on the opposite end.
The 49ers have been chasing another bookend for their defensive front and may have found their answer in Floyd after last season’s acquisition of Chase Young failed to produce the desired results. Young has since joined the New Orleans Saints.
“The 49ers decided to move on from Chase Young this offseason in favor of Floyd, who is 31 years old and still one of the most productive pass rushers in football,” Kerr wrote. “Floyd is one of three players with 9+ sacks in each of the last four seasons (Myles Garrett and Hasson Reddick are the others) and is coming off a season in which he had 10.5 sacks, 19 quarterback hits and an 11.3% pressure rating.” .”
Floyd, 31, has recorded 370 tackles, including 63 for loss, 122 quarterback hits, 58 sacks, two safeties, 14 passes defensed, two interceptions, a touchdown and four forced fumbles in 121 games (120 starts) over his eight NFL seasons.
“With Nick Bosa on the other side, there will be opportunities for Floyd to live up to that $10 million average salary (and $12 million of the contract is guaranteed),” Kerr added. “The highest cap San Francisco will even have is $10.108 million in 2025.
“Paying a 31-year-old pass rusher can be risky, but Floyd is a smart investment for being the No. 2 pass rusher on a defensive line with Bosa and Javon Hargrave.”
For Floyd, joining the 49ers offers an opportunity to compete for a championship. Signing with a winning organization was a priority in his search for free agency.
“What brought me to them was that I knew from the outside that this was a Super Bowl-ready team,” Floyd said last month. “I don’t want to go to a team and not be in a position where I can’t play in the playoffs or win a championship. So I came here with ambitions to come in, help the defense win games and get back to the big game.”
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