Why the 49ers signed an edge rusher 2 weeks ahead of the draft

Cincinnati Bengals Cam Sample (96) celebrates after a successful play during their game against the Seattle Seahawks at Paycor Stadium on Sunday October 15, 2023. Bengals were up 14-10 at halftime. The 49ers are likely to add an edge rusher in the 2026 NFL Draft in a fortnight’s time, but they have added some veteran depth at the position with a low-risk signing.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on Thursday that the Niners have signed Cam Sample to a one-year deal. Sample was a fourth-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021 and has seven sacks in 61 career games. The former Tulane defender missed the entire 2024 season with a torn Achilles before posting two sacks, a pair of tackles for loss, and a forced fumble last season.

Per Pro Football Focus, Sample had 12 pressures in 2025, having recorded 22 in the 2022 and 2023 campaigns. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the Sample signing is that he has experience of playing snaps, albeit not a high number, as an interior rusher. San Francisco has not re-signed Yetur Gross-Matos, who was the 49ers’ most dangerous interior pass rusher when healthy last season, with his spotty injury record likely a factor in that decision.

While Sample has previously suffered a major injury, he has played at least 14 games in each of his four seasons in which he was on the active roster. That durability is in stark contrast to that of Gross-Matos, who managed to feature in only 19 regular-season games in his two seasons with San Francisco. Sample played only 13 snaps as a defensive tackle last season, but the fact that he has experience in that role and that his body has typically held up over the course of a 17-game season suggests the 49ers may be taking a low-stakes bet on him as a player who can excel in a similar role to Gross-Matos.