The San Francisco 49ers have a challenging path if they want to win the NFC West after the Los Angeles Rams traded for Myles Garrett. Moreover, the Seattle Seahawks have a relentless pass rush under head coach Mike Macdonald.
As part of the trade for the 30-year-old, Los Angeles sent outside linebacker Jared Verse and a 2027 first-round pick, 2028 second-round pick, and 2029 third-round pick to the Cleveland Browns.
Despite the Niners having the challenge of blocking the best defender in football twice this upcoming season, former 49ers standout Dashon Goldson isn’t sweating seeing his ex-team face Garrett and has high hopes for Kyler Shanahan and Co.
“It’s a comeback year; I mean, we ain’t fall off,” Goldson said on the June edition of “Up & Adams.” “We’ll be all right. I think [the Rams trading for Garrett is] just a little distraction, a little distraction, that’s all. Just watch and see. The Niners is coming back this year. We’ll be contenders, guaranteed.”
Niners Offensive Line Has Their Work Cut Out for Them
Despite Goldson’s optimism, it will be up to the 49ers’ offensive line to try to contain Garrett when the two teams meet in Week 1 on Sept. 10 in Australia. BC Sports Bay Area’s Jennifer Lee Chan warned the 49ers’ offensive line that they are in for a challenging matchup trying to protect Brock Purdy as Garrett attempts to wreak their protection plan.
“Trent Williams is an amazing player, but he has had some challenging goes against Myles Garrett,“ Lee Chan said in a June 1 video on her YouTube channel. “Even last year, he still got a sack against the Niners, and that was in Week 12. Trent Williams, I think, has had his ups and downs, and every time he’s gone up against Myles Garrett, it’s not easy.
“Myles Garrett does everything possible to try to get around a tackle. They’ll put him on one side, they’ll put him on the opposite side, but it’s just Myles Garrett. He is a game wrecker. He is challenging to block.”
Should the 49ers Trade for Maxx Crosby?
While the Niners’ offensive line prepares to face Garrett twice this season and the Seahawks‘ pass rush that helped them win a Super Bowl, Grant Cohn, who covers the team for 49ers on SI, believes that San Francisco should be looking to bolster their pass rush.
“I think [the 49ers] could do [trade for Crosby] for two firsts; maybe it would not even take two firsts,“ Cohn said in a June 1 video from his YouTube channel. “The fact that he failed that physical, maybe they could trade him. I do not know. So I guess the Raiders are feeling like, why trade low? Why sell low? Get him back on the field, see what he can do, see what he can show. Maybe they can rehabilitate his trade value.
“So let us say the Raiders are unwilling to trade Maxx Crosby until the deadline, when they are definitely out of it, and Maxx Crosby is once again worth two first-round picks. I would trade the picks unless the season was going off the rails and he would not save it. But I do not see the season going like that.”
Dashon Goldson Gets Blunt on 49ers After Rams’ Myles Garrett Trade