The San Francisco 49ers have agreed to sign Buffalo Bills edge rusher Leonard Floyd, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
It’s a big move to bolster the 49ers’ defensive front, especially after the team just released defensive lineman Arik Armstead due to his refusal to take a pay cut.
Floyd is coming off of a terrific 2023 campaign in which he played every game and racked up 32 tackles, 10.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
The 31-year-old, who played his collegiate football at the University of Georgia, was originally selected by the Chicago Bears with the ninth overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft.
After a fairly impressive rookie season in which he registered 33 tackles and seven sacks, Floyd went on to become a disappointment for the Bears, failing to reach five sacks in any of his final three years with the club.
He proceeded to sign with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020, which was when he truly broke out.
In his first season with the Rams, Floyd rattled off 55 tackles, 10.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a couple of fumble recoveries. He proved it wasn’t a fluke the following year, when he posted 70 tackles, 9.5 sacks, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Floyd would then go on to post very similar numbers in his final season with Los Angeles in 2022, finishing with 59 tackles, nine sacks and a fumble recovery.
Last offseason, he signed a one-year deal with the Bills. In spite of how impressive he was in Buffalo, the team was unable to retain him due to financial constraints.
Now, Leonard Floyd joins a San Francisco pass rush that was already good as it was, as the Niners amassed a total of 48 sacks in 2023.
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