Leonard

Floyd

Floyd suffered a sprained knee in the team’s preseason finale Friday. His presence at practice Wednesday allows 49ers faithful to exhale after it was revealed that there was no long-term or structural damage to his knee. The offseason acquisition has amassed 9.0 or more sacks in four consecutive seasons while playing for the Rams and Bills and gives the 49ers a legitimate presence off the edge opposite Nick Bosa.

In addition to Floyd, defensive tackle Yetur Gross-Matos is also believed to have suffered a sprained knee. Both players will undergo MRIs on Saturday to confirm their injuries and their severity. Floyd signed a one-year contract with the 49ers this offseason and is coming off a 10.5-sack year with the Bills, which tied his career high. We’ll see if either player’s absence stretches into the regular season. The 49ers open the year on September 9 against the Jets.

Though the 49ers are never one to shy away from adding pass-rushing talent, this move is less about doubling down on a strength and more about backfilling. Defensive tackle Arik Armstead is expected to be released and Chase Young, who the team traded for at the deadline last year, is a free agent. Floyd signed a one-year deal with the Bills last offseason and gave them 10.5 sacks plus nine TFLs. Even at 31 years old, he proved to be a top-end pass-rusher once again. His addition will help keep the 49ers’ defensive machine rolling in 2024.

Floyd said he’d prefer to stay in Buffalo, but the Bills are almost $50 million over the cap space, which could make retaining Floyd a tall task in 2024 and beyond. The veteran pass rusher tied a career-high this season when he racked up 10.5 sacks in his first year with the Bills. Floyd has posted nine or more sacks in each of the last four seasons and will be 32 at the start of next season. He still has enough in the tank to serve as a situational pass rusher, which is how he’d likely be utilized next season. Floyd played in all 17 of the Bills’ regular season games in 2023 but played on just 576 snaps, his fewest since his 2016 rookie season.

Both Hyde and Floyd limped off of the field during Sunday’s win over the Raiders and didn’t return to the game. Of course, Buffalo was also up three scores at the time, so there was no need to rush either player back. Still, we saw how important Hyde is to this Buffalo secondary when he missed the season last year, so his presence on the field will be crucial against a solid Commanders offense. Similarly, with Von Miller out, Floyd has been an integral component of the Bills’ defense line. Considering both players are veterans, they might not need to get in a full practice in order to play on Sunday, but this is a situation to monitor.

The Rams made Floyd a cap casualty last March when they released him to free up $3 million in cap space. Floyd has totaled nine or more sacks in each of his last three seasons and totaled 54 quarterback pressures last season -- the second-highest total of his career. His signing with the Bills reunites him with former Rams teammate Von Miller and bolsters a pass rush that ranked 14th in sacks last season.

This move was all but guaranteed to happen once it was reported that the Rams would cut Floyd if they didn’t find a trade partner. To no one’s surprise, they were unable to find a suitor. Now Floyd is free to sign with any team. He has at least nine sacks in each of the past three seasons plus 28 total TFLs over that span. If the Rams don’t designate him as a post-June 1 release, they will save $3 million against the cap this year. Designating him as a post-June 1 cut would up the cap savings to $15.5 million.

Per ESPN’s Field Yates, releasing Floyd would clear $3 million in cap space if done now. However, with a post-June 1 designation, they could spread out his dead money over two seasons and create $15 million in 2023 cap space. The Rams will reportedly look to trade Floyd if possible, but his time with the team appears to have come to an end. Floyd is entering his age-31 season and will catch on as a solid EDGE contributor elsewhere.

Floyd’s knee reportedly buckled in what coach Sean McVay called a freak incident in practice. Tests revealed there is nothing structurally wrong with Floyd’s knee, but this is an injury worth monitoring. He will likely be listed as questionable on the final injury report.

Floyd said he initially suffered the injury in training camp last summer but managed it so well that he was able to not miss a game en route to 9.5 sacks as a key member of the Rams’ Super Bowl defense. Since joining the Rams, Floyd has 20 sacks across two seasons. He’s expected to be ready for the start of training camp.