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The San Francisco 49ers have an obvious need at pass rush, finishing with a league-low 20 sacks in 2025, showing no ability to get after the quarterback after Nick Bosa suffered his season-ending knee injury in Week 3.
There won’t be a shortage of pass rushers on the market, with high-priced, big-ticket players like Maxx Crosby and Trey Hendrickson that could be had if the price is right. But let’s take a look at a player who not only will be a lower-priced option, but one the 49ers have been rumored to be interested in as recently as this past trade deadline: Dre’Mont Jones, who Spotrac has valued at an annual average value of $10.3 million.
After four seasons in Denver and two in Seattle, Jones found himself in Tennessee to start what proved to be the best season of his career. While only playing nine games with the Titans, Jones finished third on the team with 4.5 sacks and was second only behind All-Pro Jeffrey Simmons at the time of his trade.
The trade moved Jones from a bottom-of-the-barrel team to one in the thick of a playoff chase with Baltimore. Jones finished the rare 18-game season by playing nine more with the Ravens. And while his sack numbers didn’t match what they were with Tennessee – just 2.5 in Baltimore – his pressure numbers improved, finishing with 32 in the back half of the season, compared to 19 with the Titans.
The seven sacks and 51 pressures set a new career-high for the 29-year-old. Let’s say San Francisco goes on to sign Jones; that seven-sack number is important. Since the 49ers drafted Nick Bosa back in 2019, only five pass rushers not named Bosa have finished with more than seven sacks in a season:
- 2019 Arik Armstead: 10.0 sacks
- 2024 Leonard Floyd: 8.5
- 2020 Kerry Hyder: 8.5
- 2019 DeForest Buckner: 7.5
- 2023 Javon Hargrave: 7.0
If there is a concern with Jones, it would be his fit with the 49ers. San Francisco has run a 4-3 defense under Kyle Shanahan, regardless of who the defensive coordinator has been. That likely won’t change with Raheem Morris at the helm. Jones has played almost exclusively in a 3-4 defense throughout his career. In 2025, Jones played 658 snaps standing up as an outside linebacker and just 123 snaps with his hand on the ground at the defensive end.
Now, with Morris, the 49ers defense could get a little more creative. Morris has traditionally run a 3-4 defense, but San Francisco will stick to their traditional 4-3. John Lynch has alluded to the possibility of playing around with more five-person fronts, leaving room for different looks. Jones’ versatility to play both standing at the line and his hand in the dirt could intrigue the 49ers to rekindle their interest in the eighth-year pass rusher.
Jones is an average run defender and a plus pass rusher. There might be better options out there, but the 49ers are more than one pass rusher away from being set at the position. Unless the solution is Maxx Crosby, San Francisco could consider multiple lower-priced options to fill the position group. If they go that route, Jones could be an interesting option.