On Wednesday, none of the Bay Area media had an opportunity to ask San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan about newly acquired defensive end Cassius Marsh. News of the addition did not surface until after Shanahan's scheduled press conference.
The New England Patriots waived Marsh on Tuesday and the 49ers, who own the second-worst record in the NFL, were awarded the player.
Shanahan joined KNBR on Wednesday night and was asked about the addition of Marsh. Unlike someone like quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who the 49ers traded for, Shanahan sees Marsh as a player the team can throw into the defense immediately to see what they have.
"It's different to where you're not having to trade for him," Shanahan said on the "Tolbert & Lund" show. "He became available, which I know we weren't expecting. I think a lot of people in the league weren't expecting, but he did and that's one advantage of having the record that we have is that we have the second choice where we can claim people. So, once Cleveland didn't, then he becomes ours if we want him.
"So, that was exciting to get a guy like that. I'll meet him probably [on Thursday] when he gets in. But I played against him. Played against him twice last year. He's a good player. He's been tough for us to go against. When he comes in the rotation in Seattle, he brought a lot of speed coming off the ball. And speed's something I think we can use on our D-line.
"Just knowing about him from playing against him, knowing that I think his speed and skill asset is something that can help our D-line, it was a thing we were excited about when we saw he was available and just glad Cleveland didn't claim him."
Marsh, who is in his fourth NFL season, has 74 tackles, four sacks, and two forced fumbles during his 46 game appearances. He entered the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick by the Seattle Seahawks in 2014 after playing college football at UCLA. On September 2, the Seahawks traded Marsh to the Patriots in exchange for 2018 fifth- and seventh-round draft picks. This season, he played in nine games with New England with one start and accumulated 14 tackles and a sack.
You can listen to the entire interview with Shanahan below.
