The San Francisco 49ers don’t have any glaring holes on their roster as they prepare for the 2023 season. With Brock Purdy healthy and back at practice, their biggest question mark, starting quarterback, has been answered.
The rest of the training camp will be spent getting players such as Purdy up to speed and making sure everyone is healthy and ready to go for the regular season. The contract extension for star edge rusher Nick Bosa is the biggest thing looming over the 49ers’ camp currently.
But, after running back Christian McCaffrey restructured his contract, people are wondering how the 49ers will spend that money. Over at Sportsnaut, Vincent Frank believes that they will spend some of that newfound cap space on an edge defender to help complement Bosa.
The player that Frank has in mind? Veteran free agent, Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney, somewhat surprisingly, remains a free agent just a month away from the regular season kicking off. Frank believes that he would be an ideal fit in San Francisco, predicting that the former No. 1 overall pick will land in the Bay Area.
“We’re at the point in the offseason that the compensatory draft formula is not taken into account. It’s in this that we fully expect the San Francisco 49ers to be active. They rely a great deal on that formula. San Francisco also has a major need out on the edge next to Nick Bosa. Having restructured the contract of Christian McCaffrey to create more cap room, the 49ers are going to target an edge guy. Clowney just makes too much sense with San Francisco boasting the second-most cap room in the NFL.”
Clowney had a difficult 2022 campaign with the Cleveland Browns, playing in only 12 games and not being on the same page with defensive coordinator Al Woods. He had only 28 tackles, four tackles for loss, four quarterback hits and 2.0 sacks.
It was certainly a disappointing season after he had 9.0 sacks, 11 tackles for loss and 19 quarterback hits in 2021. With the 49ers, Clowney could find some success working opposite Bosa, as he will be drawing single coverage.
Even if Clowney isn’t producing as a pass rusher, he would be helpful in the run game. The 49ers were gashed in the NFC Championship Game by the Philadelphia Eagles and having a presence such as Clowney on the edge would help cut down on such things occurring.
