Most Underrated Offseason Move the 49ers Made

There weren’t a ton of moves made this offseason by the San Francisco 49ers.

Instead, they chose quality over quantity. Additions like Mike Evans are one of, if not the number one highlight of their offseason. Not only is it adding a great player, but they addressed a need.

With that said, there is another move the 49ers made this offseason that is underrated or underappreciated. It’s a move that can end up being the best one they've made all offseason.

This move deserves more hype

It’s trading for Osa Odighizuwa. The 49ers sent the Dallas Cowboys a 2026 third-round pick (No. 92 overall) in March during free agency for the impactful defensive tackle.

The move has two amazing benefits for the 49ers. For starters, Odighizuwa is a monster. He’s tremendous as a pass rusher, tallying 3.5 sacks and 37 pressures in 17 games.

Those numbers aren’t anything to get overly excited about, but they also don’t reflect the quality of a pass rusher that he is. Last season, he had the ninth-best pass rush win rate at his position.

Odighizuwa immediately becomes the best interior pass rusher on the 49ers. He’s the best one they’ve had since Arik Armstead, who was missed in 2025.

Yes, the 49ers have C.J. West and Alfred Collins. And now that they’ve drafted Gracen Halton, it can look odd that they have all of these defensive tackles.

But the 49ers needed to stack up on defensive linemen. They were the worst pass-rushing unit last season. Now that they have a bunch of players to work with, it shouldn’t fall off a cliff again, should injuries occur.

Odighizuwa is also a sound run defender as well. He had the eighth-best run stop win rate last season at his position. Expect him to pair up with Collins and West on early downs.

If Halton is as advertised, he will help with passing downs with Odighizuwa and even rotate with him when needed. The 49ers are fond of their defensive line rotations to keep everyone fresh.

The second benefit of adding Odighizuwa is that the 49ers used a third-round pick to acquire him. No player available at No. 92 overall would’ve been anywhere near as valuable as Odighizuwa.

Even if the 49ers only keep him for one season, it’s way better to roll the dice and see how it works with him than to reach (again) in the third round.

Imagine if Kaelon Black was the pick at 92 instead of trading it for Odighizuwa. It would’ve been a disastrous move. The 49ers maximized the value of that third-round pick.

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