Ezekiel Ansah had the franchise tag placed on him by the Detroit Lions. That takes away one of the best pass rushers that was available on the free agent market. The 49ers were one of the teams rumored to be a possible destination for Ansah. They need pass rush help and they had the money available to make a good offer to Ansah. He would have instantly upgraded their pass rush, but the 49ers will now have to focus on the combine to find pass rush help.
Pass rushers are not the only position the 49ers will look for at the combine. They need to find corners, offensive linemen, and weapons for Jimmy Garoppolo. The 49ers were reporting trying to trade for Chiefs’ corner Marcus Peters, but the Rams were able to complete the deal this past weekend. Due to the trade, Trumaine Johnson should be available and a few other free agent corners are available. The position is so thin that the 49ers will probably need to sign a free agent and draft a corner.
The 49ers did help their offensive line depth by resigning Garry Gilliam. Garry signed a 2 year deal on Tuesday. He played only 1 game last season, but went on injured reserve after suffering a MCL sprain. He will likely serve as a backup this season. In addition to the signing, the 49ers will have to draft some linemen. Joe Staley is getting up there in age and Trent Brown only has one year left. The 49ers have to protect Jimmy Garoppolo, their most prized asset.
49ers links
The biggest needs | Where to focus during the combine (Wagoner)
Great hire for the Colts | Tom Rathman hired by Colts (Marvez)
Rathman will be Colts running back (Gantt)
Glad to see Tom Rathman getting a position from another team (Barrows)
A major talent, but teams may have been afraid of his other issues | Chiefs called all the NFL teams to gauge Marcus Peter trade interest (Gantt)
Congrats Tom Rathman (Branch)
A big need | Looking for guards at the combine (Williams)
Current 49ers’ combine performances (Martin)
Derwin James (Biderman)
It was a long shot | Ezekiel Ansah will not be coming to San Francisco (Biderman)
Congrats Garry | Extension for Garry Gilliam (Alper)
Gilliam resigns (Biderman)
Helping the OL depth | 2 year extension for offensive tackle (Branch)
Gilliam’s extension in relation to Trent Brown (Inman)
Welcoming back Garry Gilliam (Barrows)