There’s still hope 49ers will address 1 of their biggest weaknesses before Week 1

The San Francisco 49ers have several weak spots on the roster heading into this season. The one that seems to be a perennial issue is edge rusher, and there is some hope the Niners will add at least a little more depth there before next season.

In a recent article from The Athletic naming one players from each NFL team who have the most on the line in the upcoming season, Vic Tafur named edge rusher Nick Bosa and dropped one important nugget: “It seems like the 49ers will still add a veteran edge player to help Bosa (after Bryce Huff suddenly retired).”

It’s unclear if this is just speculation on the part of Tafur, or if he’s hearing the Niners will indeed bring a veteran edge rusher into the fold, but it at least provides some hope San Francisco is still working to address that position.

Bosa does have a lot to prove, and it’s hard to envision him having a huge year unless he gets some help. Everyone hopes Bosa will be his usual self, but the fact is he’s about to be age 29, is coming off yet another ACL tear, and may start to decline at this point in his career.

His brother Joey Bosa is 31 years old and is reportedly mulling retirement after what has been an injury-plagued career up to this point. Maybe the shelf life isn’t super long on either Bosa brother at this point.

That’s why the Niners should still be perusing the free-agent and trade markets to see who is out there and available. Guys like Jadeveon Clowney, Haason Reddick, and Denice Autry are still out there in free agency, and they’d provide some much-needed depth.

If San Francisco does not make an addition prior to the season, it'll go into battle with young players like Mykel Williams and Romello Height carrying a lot of weight. That wouldn’t be ideal since Williams is coming off an ACL tear and Height is a rookie. There are other depth options like Keion White, but he was shot in the ankle earlier this year, so there are just too many question marks to feel entirely comfortable about that group.

It doesn’t have to be a huge signing, but just a little more depth would go a long way toward making 49ers fans feel better about the edge-rusher situation going into the 2026 campaign.

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This article was originally published on ninernoise.com as There’s still hope 49ers will address 1 of their biggest weaknesses before Week 1.