49ers signing former Super Bowl champion pass-rusher

The San Francisco 49ers are bringing in a player who has done what they weren’t quite able to do last season.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Monday that the 49ers have agreed to sign defensive end Leonard Floyd in free agency. Floyd, who spent the 2023 campaign with the Buffalo Bills, is getting a two-year, $20 million deal that has $12 million guaranteed in the first year and could be worth up to $24 million overall.

A first-round pick in 2016 (No. 9 overall), Floyd, 31, is a major addition on the edge for San Francisco. He has 58.0 career sacks and tied a career-high last season with 10.5 of them for the Bills. Floyd was also a starter for the Los Angeles Rams when they won Super Bowl LVI in the 2021 campaign.

San Francisco’s pass rush was already formidable with 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa and former Pro Bowler Chase Young leading the way. 

But Young is a free agent himself, and the 49ers just parted ways with another prominent member of their defensive line. The addition of Floyd should thus help them maintain their scariness up front.