The San Francisco 49ers accomplished a great deal in 2025, winning 12 games, making it to the playoff and eliminating the defending Super Bowl champions before falling to the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round.
Now, San Francisco is turning the page to the offseason and preparing for 2026. One of the top things on their agenda will be deciding which of their own pending free agents they want to bring back.
While the 49ers have 28 players set to hit the market, today we're looking at defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos .
This was Gross-Matos' second season in San Francisco after spending his first four in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers . The 27-year-old missed a good chunk of time due to a hip injury and finished the year with just eight tackles, two quarterback hits and one pass defensed in eight games.
The 49ers have other options if they want to go another direction at defensive end, and some of them are already in the building.
With Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams returning from torn ACLs, Keion White could be a great third man in the edge rotation, alongside Sam Okuayinonu , who is a restricted free agent.
Outside the building, there are more intriguing options as well, with Jaelan Phillips , Jihad Ward , K'Lavon Chaisson and more hitting the market.
Gross-Matos' last contract was for $18 million over two years (with three void years at the end). According to Spotrac , he's expected to receive a one-year, $3.58 million deal this offseason.
Over two years in San Francisco, Gross-Matos has played just 19 games and recorded 27 tackles, nine quarterback hits, four sacks and a pass defensed. They should probably look elsewhere to try and upgrade.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: NFL free agency: Should 49ers re-sign Yetur Gross-Matos in offseason?
