The 49ers have their 53-man roster in place, but the work may not be done yet.
San Francisco got through cutdown day with its group settled and looked ready for Week 1, only to have the Rams change the picture by landing Aaron Donald on a $20 million contract. With Donald back in the mix, Los Angeles suddenly has a defensive front that includes Myles Garrett, Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, and Byron Young - a unit that is both loaded and deep.
The 49ers answered quickly by trading for offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson just hours after the Donald news became official. Patterson isn’t a starter, but he gives San Francisco useful depth at right guard behind Dominick Puni.
Still, that may not be the final move. The bigger question now is how the 49ers should respond to Donald’s return: keep bolstering the offensive line, or add another pass rusher and meet force with force?
There’s a case for staying on offense, especially since San Francisco already addressed the line with Patterson. But finding impact help at this point in the calendar is no easy task, and Donald is not the kind of player you simply patch over with a random guard. Even with chip help or double teams, the 49ers may be better off tailoring their blocking plan specifically for games against the Rams and only when Donald is on the field.
The cleaner answer might be on the edge, where one veteran remains available and fits the moment perfectly: Joey Bosa.
Bosa is still an unrestricted free agent, and he’d be an ideal fit opposite his brother Nick Bosa. The two have only shared one season together, back in the 2012 high school football season at St.
Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They never got the chance to line up together at Ohio State.
Joey is 31 now, and injuries have taken their toll, so there’s no guarantee there’s much left. But if the 49ers are going to make that family reunion happen, this may be the last real shot.
And the need is real. Mykel Williams will start the season on the PUP list and miss at least four games after tearing his ACL in November of 2025. That leaves San Francisco leaning on Sam Okuayinonu, rookie Romello Height, Keion White, and Ogbo Okoronkwo to generate pressure opposite Nick Bosa, which may not be enough in Week 1.
If the 49ers want Joey Bosa, they’d need to move fast. He’d have to learn the system quickly, and San Francisco opens the regular season in Australia.
The upside is obvious. Adding Bosa would give the 49ers another proven edge threat and help them keep pace in a crowded NFC West. Make it happen, John Lynch!
In Other News...
49ers Defensive Front Just Lost A Rookie They Were Counting On
Mykel Williams rookie year is starting with an unexpected pause after the 49ers placed the defensive lineman on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform List, pushing back his debut by at least the first four games. The first-round pick from the 2025 NFL Draft had been part of the plan for a front that expected to lean on its young pass rush talent, but an ACL injury has changed the opening stretch and ensured he will not be on the field for the season opener.
San Francisco has already set its 53-man roster, and the edge-rusher group will have to carry the load without him for now, with Sam Okuayinou, Keion White and Romello Height among the names on the list. The early absence matters because Williams was supposed to help line up next to Nick Bosa, and now the 49ers will have to find out how much pressure they can generate before their rookie defender is eligible to return. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Just Lost A Defender They Wanted To Keep
The 49ers roster churn is still rolling as teams around the league sort through waiver claims and the next round of practice-squad and injured reserve moves. San Francisco had been trying to keep its depth intact, but the early action already trimmed away some familiar names, with the Raiders grabbing Darrell Luter, the Chiefs taking Bryson Eason, and the Colts landing Kapena Gushiken.
There is still more movement to come before the day is done, and that is where the 49ers will get their next look at how the back end of the roster settles. Christian Jones and Isaiah Foskey were also part of the broader conversation around roster decisions and development, which is exactly why these post-cutdown hours can matter so much for a team trying to preserve young talent wherever it can. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Just Got A Harsh Early Reality Check In The NFC West
The NFC West already looked unforgiving for San Francisco, and now the early path has gotten even steeper. Reports that Aaron Donald is coming out of retirement to return to the Los Angeles Rams only add to a roster that already carried plenty of defensive bite, and the comparison between the two teams has tilted further toward Los Angeles on both sides of the ball. For a 49ers team trying to navigate a division that rarely offers much breathing room, it is the kind of development that forces an immediate reset of expectations.
The timing makes it even tougher to ignore because the 49ers are set to see the Rams first in Melbourne, Australia, a stage that will amplify whatever edge Los Angeles believes it has. San Francisco can still make its own case over the course of the season, but the matchup in front of it now looks like more than just an opener. It feels like an early test of whether the 49ers can keep pace in a division where the margin for error may already be shrinking. [Read more 🡒]