San Francisco 49ers NFL Trade Rumors 2017: Jacquies Smith Draws Interest

By Noriel See, Christian Post Contributor Monday, March 27, 2017

The San Francisco 49ers already have Arik Armstead, Aaron Lynch, Eli Harold and Tank Carradine among others on their roster, but it seems that they are still planning to add more depth to their defensive line.

NFL.com's Ian Rapoport has reported that the 49ers have expressed interest in signing restricted free agent Jacquies Smith and they brought him in for a free-agent visit last Friday. 49ers general manager John Lynch also confirmed that they have indeed hosted the defensive end last week.

"We wanted to get him checked out medically, and we'll see," Lynch said at the annual league meeting in Phoenix, Arizona.

Well, Smith left Santa Clara without signing a contract, but he can still end up joining the 49ers.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed an original-round tender on Smith, but since Smith came into the league as an undrafted free agent in 2012, the 49ers could just sign him to an offer sheet without compensation. However, the Buccaneers could still match any offer Smith receives if they want to bring him back.

Smith should fit right in with the 49ers and All22.com's Ryan Wooden believes they actually have the edge over the Buccaneers, thanks to their salary cap space.

"The 49ers have significant leg up on the Buccaneers in the competition for Smith's services because they have $81 million in available cap space per OverTheCap.com and rights holders only have $32.3 million," Wooden said in his report. "The 49ers would likely be looking for Smith to move from defensive end in a 4–3 to LEO linebacker in their 3–4 scheme," he continued.

Of course, signing him is still risky because he's coming off an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. However, it is worth a shot if he's healthy. Smith played really well during the 2014 and 2015 seasons and he should improve the 49ers pass rush if he joins.