With the San Francisco 49ers recently acquiring defensive end Bryce Huff from the Philadelphia Eagles, the question of whether to trade defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos has emerged. While depth is important, it's a possibility worth exploring.
Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport recently highlighted Gross-Matos as a player the 49ers should consider trading before the start of the 2025 season. For San Francisco, options were limited due to the team's lack of depth behind its talented starting lineup.
And no, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk wasn't considered. With the 49ers already having paid out a significant bonus, the salary cap implications made a potential Aiyuk trade unrealistic, prompting Davenport to rule it out.
Gross-Matos' performance and trade value
Davenport acknowledges that suggesting another team being interested in Gross-Matos after a lackluster 2024 performance might be a bit of a stretch.
"Gross-Matos had four sacks last season in his first season with the 49ers," Davenport wrote, "but three of those sacks came in one game. He also had a career-low 19 total tackles."
While Davenport doesn't believe the 49ers could get much in return, he doesn't completely dismiss the possibility that Gross-Matos may still draw interest from some team seeking depth on the edge.
"Dealing Gross-Matos isn't going to get the Niners more than a late-round draft pick," Davenport added. "But the former second-round pick is still just 27, and an NFL team looking to add depth on the edge could believe that they can coax better football out of Gross-Matos in a new home."
Financial implications of a potential trade
Gross-Matos is set to hit free agency in 2026, and San Francisco can easily afford to keep him on the roster this season. If defensive line depth is a concern, retaining him makes sense.
Still, a trade shouldn't be ruled out. Moving Gross-Matos would create $7.82 million in salary cap savings for 2025, though it would also leave behind $6.61 million in total dead money over two seasons ($1.65 million in 2025 and $4.96 million in 2026).
That said, the 49ers already lead the NFL with $92.65 million in dead money, most of it tied to players no longer on the roster. The one exception is fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who counts toward both cap and dead money totals due to his offseason release and re-signing. Following the Deebo Samuel trade, which alone added $34.1 million in dead money, San Francisco may be hesitant to continue adding to their already staggering total.