The San Francisco 49ers will be looking to improve their roster this offseason, considering they are in arguably the best division in the NFL, the NFC West. Both the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams were in the NFC title game and the Seahawks have a chance to win the Super Bowl.
As a result, the Niners need to keep pace with their division rivals. San Francisco need to improve its pass rush, as the 49ers finished dead last in team sacks with 20, per Pro Football Reference.
Nonetheless, part of the reason the 49ers had so few sacks was the season-ending injury to Nick Bosa. Moreover, to bolster their pass rush for the 2026 season, PFF floated the idea of the Niners pursuing Joey Bosa.
However, 49ers reporter for On SI, Grant Cohn, believes that would be a terrible idea and goes as far as to say the Niners need to move on from Nick rather than adding Joey.
“Not only should [the 49ers] not sign Joey Bosa, they should trade Nick Bosa,” Cohn wrote on X on Feb. 1. “His contract is gross.”
49ers Are Looking for a New Defensive Coordinator
The 49ers’ defense will have a different feel, as former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh left to take the head coaching job with the Tennessee Titans. In a report published Jan. 29, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco reported, citing a source, that the team has interviewed Raheem Morris, Joe Woods, and Gus Bradley for the opening.
Nonetheless, one name that’s emerging more in speculation than reporting is Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Despite that gossip, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Jennifer Lee Chan shared her insight on whether Schwartz would fit with the 49ers as their defensive coordinator.
“[Schwartz] is a guy who obviously Kyle Shanahan respects a lot,” Lee Chan said in her YouTube video published on Jan. 30. “I don’t know that he’s the best fit for the 49ers and how they’re built defensively. 49ers are built to rush from the line. They aren’t meant to be huge blitzers. They have the safeties be the erasers. You’ve got two linebackers. Fred Warner is your coverage and run stopper.
“So your defensive line doesn’t have to assess the situation. They don’t have to say, ‘Okay, this is a run play. This is a pass play.’ You know, they don’t have to look at how things are set up. They don’t have to look at the motions. They are just there to go get the quarterback.”
Would Jim Schwartz Be Better Off With the Niners?
Meanwhile, former 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman believes Schwartz would benefit from being the Niners’ defensive coordinator if he hopes to be an NFL head coach again.
“I think if Schwartz goes to another team, a contender who’s out of a defensive coordinator right now, I think he has a head coach job within the next two years,” Sherman said in a Jan. 30 video from “The Richard Sherman Podcast.” “And by contender, I’m thinking of the San Francisco 49ers, and I would imagine Kyle Shanahan is on the phone right now, whatever you need.
“After losing Robert Saleh to a head coaching job and showing a pipeline for his defensive coordinators to be elevated to head coaching jobs, you talk about DeMeco Ryans, you talk about Robert Saleh twice. Even my guy Jeff Hafley, who was on the staff in ’18, is now a head coach right now for the Miami Dolphins.”
Insider Urges 49ers to Make Compelling Decision on Nick Bosa