SANTA CLARA — Defensive end Chase Young’s audition with the 49ers started hot four months ago, as he and Nick Bosa shared a fumble-forcing sack in a victory in Jacksonville.
Two days into free agency, Young’s market doesn’t seem too hot, and certainly not with the 49ers.
Young is slated to make visits to the Carolina Panthers, the New Orleans Saints and the Tennessee Titans once the league year allows for it Wednesday, the NFL Network reported.
Breaking free from the 49ers would not be a surprise, considering:
— They’ve already agreed to two-year contracts with Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos.
— Young produced 3 1/2 sacks in 12 games once the 49ers acquired him in October from the Washington Commanders, in exchange for a third-round draft pick (No. 100 overall).
— Young’s lack of hustle on a Detroit Lions touchdown run in the NFC Championship Game renewed concerns over his work ethic.
— As much as Bosa said after the season that he hoped Young would return, Bosa does not make personnel calls, even if he’s the NFL’s highest-paid defender.
Young’s free agency visits presumably will inform suitors on how he’s recovered from a 2021 knee injury that sidetracked his career. He won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors after being drafted No. 2. He missed nearly 1 1/2 seasons, and after Washington declined his fifth-year option last April, Young started out last season with five sacks in seven games.
Young did not start for the 49ers until the playoffs, after Clelin Ferrell sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 18; Ferrell agreed Tuesday to a one-year contract with the Commanders, The Athletic reported. Defensive end Randy Gregory is also a free agent, as are defensive tackles Sebastian Joseph-Day and Kevin Givens.
Defensive ends projected on the 49ers’ roster currently are Bosa, Floyd, Gross-Matos, Drake Jackson, Robert Beal Jr., Earnest Brown IV and Raymond Johnson III.
Among the 49ers’ moves they’re expected to announce Wednesday is a two-year extension with special-teams ace George Odum, as reported by NFL Network.
Source: www.mercurynews.com