What the 49ers Might Do in Response to Rams Acquiring Myles Garrett

The 49ers need to reassess after that trade.

Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) takes the field before an NFL football game at Huntington Bank Field, Dec. 21, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio. | Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What a brutal way for the San Francisco 49ers to start Week 2 of OTAs.

They have to get back to work knowing their matchups with the Los Angeles Rams have increased significantly in difficulty after the Rams acquired star pass rusher Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns.

It was always going to be tough for the 49ers to face the Rams. Now, they've made it a pain to plan against them with Garrett in the fold. After the Rams made a move like that, the 49ers should feel compelled to respond to it.

There isn't a splash move the 49ers can make similar to acquiring Garrett. Nothing will come close to it, but they might sign this player they've been linked to all offseason.

The 49ers might sign this player in response

It's signing Joey Bosa. This is their only realistic option for them to make a move, and it would generate some buzz since they'd be pairing him up with his brother, Nick Bosa.

The 49ers will use this move as a way to show that they're trying to win big as well. However, only a simpleton would fall for this public relations ruse.

In no way, shape, or form is signing Bosa even a smidge of what the Rams did by trading for Garrett. That's a real showcase of what going for it all means.

But I can totally see the 49ers caving into Bosa's demands for a lucrative one-year deal. The pressure of seeing what the Rams are doing may give credence to that.

I don't believe they should, as Bosa is a shell of himself from several years ago. Yet Kyle Shanahan is fond of adding him. He made that clear in Week 1 of OTAs.

"I love signing good players," Shanahan said with a bit of a smile. "I look at our team as, we kind of have our team, and anyone else we can figure out to bring, especially someone like that, that would be awesome. But that stuff's not always possible."

Well, maybe "that stuff " is possible now. Shanahan and John Lynch can easily reconvene with their salary cap personnel and point out what the Rams are doing.

They could create a compelling case for them to finally sign Bosa. They shouldn't do it, but I think they might. When the Rams traded for Trent McDuffie, the 49ers signed Mike Evans.

Perhaps they will view signing Bosa somewhat similar to that.

Follow Jose on X (Twitter) @JS3sanchezz to interact with him on the 49ers and more.

Add us as a preferred source on Google