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Last year’s defensive line was not at all what the 49ers had envisioned. Nick Bosa was lost in the second game of the year, two plays apart from Solomon Thomas, who has since signed with the Las Vegas Raiders. Dee Ford played just one game before a back issue which has yet to show any encouraging signs of being resolved, sidelined him for the rest of the season.
This is a team built upon the defensive line. It’s a thesis proven by the fact that three of the organization’s five first-round picks in the last four years have all been defensive lineman. John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have spoken about their philosophy openly.
So, with Ford potentially out for the entire season again, the 49ers employed some clever cap moves (restructuring Ford and the reportedly soon-to-be-retired Weston Richburg, cutting Mark Nzeocha, and structuring Trent Williams’ and others’ deals to have minimal year one cap hits), creating room to re-sign their own free agents and pursue outside players like Alex Mack and Samson Ebukam.
In Ebukam, the 49ers hope to find similar value to what they had in Ford; a speedy, mostly situational third-down edge rusher. Ebukam, as he admitted is not a technician, but is physically domineering with raw talent and a relentless motor that have netted him 4.5 sacks in each of the past two seasons.
Perhaps equally important is that Ebukam, like Mack, stays on the field. He has not missed a single game in his four years with the Los Angeles Rams.
Ebukam spoke to media for the first time as a member of the 49ers on Friday, saying he felt small next to Javon Kinlaw, that his former Eastern Washington teammate Kendrick Bourne was “lowkey salty” at him for joining the 49ers as he was leaving, and his excitement to play with Nick Bosa.
That last part, playing with Bosa, Ebukam said, was a massive motivator in signing.
“It was huge,” Ebukam said. “I’m getting to learn a different side of the ball just playing defensive and and how they play, and what I’ve seen on film, I’m like, yeah that’s something I definitely want to play next to, and it’ll just motivate me just to make sure that I’m always on my toes, to make sure that I’m not holding the team back.”
The 49ers officially announced that Ebukam had signed a two-year deal on Friday, which is reportedly worth $12 million and up to $13.5 million with incentives.