Yetur Gross-Matos was recently listed as a cap casualty for the 49ers this offseason. Today, we discuss how much the Niners would save and why they’d move on from Gross-Matos.
The San Francisco 49ers pass rush took a significant step back in 2024. Part of that was their inability to adjust and the lack of creativity on passing downs. In years past, we saw DeMeco Ryans line up the best pass rushers next to each other, move Nick Bosa around, and find matchups that were advantageous to the Niners.
It was a lot to put on Nick Sorensen’s plate in Year 1, but he was coaching with one arm behind his back for most of the season. The defensive coaching staff has generally relied on rushing four and playing coverage. The Niners lost their identity once Javon Hargrave went down in Week 3.
According to Next Gen Stats, the 49ers finished the 2024 regular season with the third-lowest blitz rate against the pass and 19th-lowest pressure rate. For a team with a below-average pass rush, the Niners were quite good at defending the pass. However, if the goal is to upgrade the defensive line, it might make more sense to move forward with players who will be available.
The 49ers didn’t feel like Hargrave’s availability was worth the price of his contract, which is why they plan on releasing him. Maliek Collins is under contract for one more season before his deal voids in 2026, making defensive tackle a priority.
From Arden Key to Charles Omenihu, the 49ers have used an edge rusher at defensive tackle on obvious passing downs when they’ve played to their peak. It’s helped unlock the pass rush and made players like Bosa more dangerous.
This past season, that was supposed to be Yetur Gross-Matos. Injuries kept Gross-Matos out for six games in 2024. He missed Weeks 5, a game where the 49ers could have used an additional pass rusher, through 10, as well as the first game of the season.
The question the front office must ask is whether they saw enough from Gross-Matos to keep him around for another year when he has a cap number of $9.4 million.
Three of Gross-Matos’s four sacks came in one game. According to Sports Info Solutions, only Weeks 11 and 14 were games in which Gross-Matos was a net positive. Per Next Gen Stats, Gross-Matos had three games where he had the same pressure rate as anybody reading this and was below ten percent in four other games. Then, you see his ceiling. Gross-Matos had three games, the Rams, Bears, and Packers, where he was north of 20 percent in pressure rate.
Finally, we can look at Gross-Matos’s snap count. He never played more than 62 percent of the time, usually hovering between 55-60 percent of the snaps. The reason it makes sense to judge a player by his snaps is because it tells you what the team is asking of a player. In this instance, 59 percent of Gross-Matos’s snaps came as a pass rusher. So, his main job is to rush the passer, but it was a job he did at a level that wasn’t adequate.
Pro Football Network suggested the 49ers sever ties with Gross-Matos, which would save the 49ers just under $3 million unless they used a post-June 1 release, which would wind up saving the Niners closer to 6.2 million:
The San Francisco 49ers are in a somewhat strange position coming off the 2024 season. There is no way of sugarcoating a very disappointing year, but they do have a bit of a mulligan after the injuries they dealt with. They head into the offseason with around $45 million in effective cap space, which is plenty to make further additions to the roster.
That also means that the 49ers do not need to cut players to free up cap space, which is always a nice position to be in. It is also good because the 49ers do not have many options that even make sense in terms of cap savings.
Yetur Gross-Matos is one of the bigger-savings options and somewhat logical from a production-to-cost ratio. He played only 34.5% of the snaps in 2024. He finished with four sacks and 10 pressures, which are far from ideal numbers, so there is not a huge case to be made for keeping him at that cost.
Players tend to take a jump in Year 2 under Kris Kocurek. Releasing Gross-Matos would create another hole on the roster you’d be forced to fill. The 49ers already need another edge rusher, and that’s with Gross-Matos on the roster.
Gross-Matos turns 27 next month, so if you believe he can stay healthy, he’s still young enough to be productive. Leonard Floyd is a free agent after the 2025 season, making edge rusher also a need.
So, if you move on, you better be sure you can find a replacement via the NFL Draft or free agency.
The unrestricted free agents at edge rusher this offseason are intriguing, and the list is long. There are a few former 49ers, Omenihu and Clelin Ferrell, who could interest the Niners. I purposely left out Chase Young. Other players like Khalil Mack, Haason Reddick, Matt Judon, and Demarcus Lawrence are on the wrong side of 30.
My choice would come down to Josh Sweat. He’s 28, has been consistent for the past four years since playing “full-time,” and does everything the 49ers ask of their defensive lineman. Plus, you could swap his role with Floyd’s, making Leonard more of a pass-rush specialist. Sweat finished tenth among all edge rushers in run stop percentage this past season and 18th in win percentage as a pass rusher.