The San Francisco 49ers have signed free agent defensive lineman Sen’Derrick Marks to a one-year contract, the team announced on Wednesday. Marks is a former second-round pick who presumably was one of the three defensive linemen to work out with the team recently, alongside Tyson Jackson and Ricardo Mathews.
Earlier on Wednesday, we talked about the 49ers’ sudden interest in adding another defensive lineman to an already deep roster and asked whether or not they were potentially looking into trading someone else, namely Quinton Dial.
It’s unclear if the Marks signing makes that more likely, but they are now very, very crowded on the defensive line going into the third preseason game. This could just be some temporary depth with Ronald Blair and DeForest Buckner dealing with injuries, however.
Marks, 30, was a second-round pick by the Tennessee Titans in 2009, a team he stayed with through 2012. He joined the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2013 and was released by the team in March. In four seasons with the Titans, he played in 51 games (26 starts) and registered 180 tackles, eight passes defensed, three sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception.
With Jacksonville, he played in 52 games (35 starts) and put up 104 tackles, 16 sacks, 13 passes defensed, five fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles. He had 8.5 sacks in 2014.
If the 49ers needed to sign some emergency depth who also had seen plenty of action during the regular season, Marks is a good player to pick up. He might even be the kind of person they want to hold on to if the youth and inexperience on the line worries them at all.