Clay Matthews could Bring Much-Needed Pass Rush Depth

The 49ers have an opportunity to add another former-first-round pick in Clay Matthews to the defensive line, who would give them the deepest pass-rush depth in the NFL.

Hear me out.

I know the history between Clay Matthews and the San Francisco 49ers has not been pretty.

And the 49ers certainly have a top-three pass rush in the NFL. Ideally, Nick Bosa, Javon Kinlaw, Arik Armstead, and Dee Ford will be the four determined to drop the quarterback in passing scenarios.

So how would Matthews mix in?

Matthews spent the 2019 season with the Los Angeles Rams. And although, he didn’t jump off the stat page or get mentioned for any pro-bowl considerations, Matthews had a really impressive season:

QB Pressure rate per 100 rush snaps

Matthews: 14.38 (292 snaps)

Bosa: 16.26 (492 snaps)

Ford: 14.37 (174 snaps)

Armstead: 12.53 (495 snaps)

Ronald Blair: 8.93 (112 snaps)

Those four 49ers will most likely take the lion share of the snaps from the edge. There’s a narrative that the pass rush isn’t as dominant when Ford is inactive, which has some truth behind that. When Ford played a minimum of four snaps, the defense allowed 15.5 points per game. When Ford missed or played less than four snaps the 49ers surrendered 25.8 points per game. That’s equivalent to a two-possession difference.

So, why not consider Matthews? 

If Ford’s presence is that much of a difference-maker, why not add a guy who had a higher pressure rate while playing 118 more snaps?

Blair is definitely one of the more solid rotational edge players across the league. However, he is still recovering from a torn ACL. On Tuesday, the 49ers placed Blair the PUP list. That doesn’t necessarily anticipate he’ll miss the start of the season, but adding Matthews as extra insurance to their only significant rotational edge player would be smart.

How would the money work?

Now that all the 2020 rookie selections are signed, the 49ers are sitting at $12.1 million in cap space, per Over the Cap. Matthews originally signed a two-year deal averaging $4.6 million. It should be noted that Matthews is earning $2 million from the Rams this season. 

Meaning the 49ers could offer $3 million. Add in the $2 million from the Rams, and Matthews theoretically can make more money this season compared to if the Rams hadn’t released him. Matthews is clearly the best free-agent pass-rush specialist that won’t demand Jadeveon-Clowney or Everson-Griffen money.

And what about Matthews' sacks?

Matthews finished the 2019 season with 8 sacks. That would have placed him third on the 49ers only behind Armstead and Bosa. At a cheap cost, Matthews would obviously upgrade the pass-rush depth.

As the arguable NFC favorites, the 49ers need to avoid any potential pass-rush nightmare similar to last season when they had to rely on guys like Anthony Zettel and Jeremiah Valoaga to be the rotational edge rushers.

Leave the past rivalry in the rear-view mirror and sign Matthews as soon as possible. Preferably before he ends up with a team that needs a pass rush desperately. 

Yes, I am talking about Seattle.