Hyder Should Remain in 49ers' Offseason Plans if They Wish to Return to 2019 Success
The 49ers have one of the best young defensive linemen in the NFL in Nick Bosa. Having a game-wrecker like Bosa is great, but as demonstrated by the 2019 49ers and the 2020 Buccaneers, a line with exceptional depth is even better.
Depth is vital, especially on the defensive line. Unlike other positions, the defensive line relies on rotations to keep everyone fresh.
Bosa can still create pressure on his own, but it’s not a guarantee he’ll be up to his 2019 form. He no longer has DeForest Buckner and is coming off an ACL tear.
Yet there is a quick fix to this problem.
The 49ers should allocate a good portion of their limited cap space ($23.638 million assuming the cap is $180 million) toward fortifying their defensive line.
The first step toward re-creating the impact of the 2019 49ers is finding someone who would allow hybrid lineman Arik Armstead to slide more comfortably inside.
The two best options are going big on someone such as Tampa Bay’s Shaq Barrett, or retaining the far less expensive breakout Kerry Hyder Jr.
Barrett would be extremely lethal opposite Bosa. He had eight sacks and 16 QB hits in 2020, with an additional four sacks and eight QB hits in the playoffs. This is coming off 19.5 sacks and 37 QB hits in 2019.
He’s going to get $17 million to $20 million a year, and would be well worth it. But his signing would leave little flexibility in addressing the many other needs across the roster and force the 49ers to trade Jimmy Garoppolo.
San Francisco would have to grab some bargain pieces to round out their starting lineup following the dedication of more than 80 percent of their open cap space to Barrett or another elite pass-rusher.
It would make much more sense for the 49ers to focus on a combination of players to improve the defensive line, and create depth rather than a two-headed monster.
Hyder would be a great place to start after an excellent 2020. In his reunion with defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, Hyder led the 49ers with 8.5 sacks (one of which was a chase-down of Kyler Murray), 10 tackles-for-loss and 18 QB hits. That’s more regular season sacks and QB hits than Barrett.
The salary cap is low this year, which hurts a lot of veterans’ chances for long-term deals. Many players like Hyder might choose to play on a cheaper one-year contract to reap the benefits of an expanded salary cap in 2022.
He surely earned a pay raise from his $1.5 million salary last season, but still won’t break the bank.
If the 49ers can get Hyder back on a one-year, $7 million to $9 million deal, they could round out their depth by re-signing Dion Jordan, Jordan Willis and Solomon Thomas on veteran-minimum contracts.
San Francisco would then have around $12 million in cap space, but also a stellar rotation of Bosa, Hyder, Armstead, Jordan, Willis, Thomas, Javon Kinlaw, Kevin Givens and Darrion Daniels. That would go a long way toward masking some deficiencies in the defensive backfield.
The 49ers would add an additional $9 million by cutting Weston Richburg and Dee Ford.
With $21 million in space, they should be able to re-sign Jason Verrett, Kyle Juszczyk, Daniel Brunskill and Emmanuel Moseley, and still have money left over to target Alex Mack, DeMarcus Walker, Vinny Curry or a safety/nickel.
This would solidify every position but left tackle and one defensive back spot, which are two positions that the 49ers can easily address in the first two rounds of the draft.
A good pass-rush is key. The 49ers cannot ignore how important this is. They should use as much of their open budget as possible to strengthen their defensive line, which in turn improves their defense back to the 2019 level.
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