Niners Eye Highsmith Trade for Edge Rusher

0:00It's April 20th, I'm Cory with the story. This is NFL News Today, driven by AI and built for football fans. The San Francisco 49ers just lost Ed rusher Bryce Huff to retirement after he dominated last season with twice as many pressures as any other. Defender on the team, especially on third downs. Now heading into draft weekend, they're banking on Nick Bosa and Michael Williams coming back from torn ACLs, plus OSA, Odizua, and some role players. To hold down the pass rush, with about $40 million in cap space after extending Trent Williams, the Niners could skip chasing a rookie at their 27th pick and grab a proven vet instead. Reports say the Pittsburgh Steelers might shop Alex Heismith or Nick Herbick, but Heismith looks like the prime trade candidate. Heismith turns 29 in August and has two years left on his deal worth about $30 million total with no guarantees. Heismith's brass figure, they'll move one of those two, especially with Herbick stepping

1:01up big when Heismith missed the final three games last year. In that stretch, Heismith led Pittsburgh with 14 pressures way ahead of teammates in seventh in the league. For the full season, he ranked 16th and quit pressures under 2.5 seconds, not far off Huff's numbers, and his get off time stayed, Elite. If John Lynch packages some fourth round picks, or even the second to land Heismith, picture that duo with Bosa, Williams, and Odie Hizua tearing up. Lines like, back in 2022, smart play to lock in that edge before the draft shakes out.