SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The initial news of Myles Garrett's trade from Cleveland to the Los Angeles Rams hit San Francisco 49ers offensive line coach Chris Foerster like a “gut punch.”
The game's most fearsome pass rusher was joining the Niners' division rivals, setting up two head-to-head matchups this upcoming season beginning with the opener in Australia.
So Foerster went right to work to study Garrett and figure out how to deal with the reigning AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
“It was kind of a little gut punch at first, you’d feel like, gosh, here we go,” Foerster said Tuesday. “But then I woke up really early this morning, earlier than usual. I came in and just watched tape. I said, he’s a tough football player. He’s going to be a challenge for us to take care of. But we had a plan last year. You’re going to do the best you can. Everybody has good players, and he’s a great player. It’s good for them and it’ll be a good challenge for us.”
The 49ers haven't had to deal with Garrett often as he spent his first nine seasons in the AFC playing for the Browns before the trade on Monday to Los Angeles for young pass rusher Jared Verse and a package of draft picks that Foerster said “came out of left field.”
San Francisco played Garrett three times over that span, including a matchup last season when Garrett had one of his NFL single-season record 23 sacks to go along with eight quarterback pressures.
After that 26-8 win by the 49ers in Week 13, 49ers star left tackle Trent Williams told Garrett he wouldn't mind if he never had to face Garrett again and called him the “best ever.”
Now Williams and the Niners are scheduled to face him twice this season alone.
Foerster said looking back at that game, he felt as if the 49ers offense had a plan that allowed them to be successful despite the presence of Garrett.
Now Garrett joins a much more formidable team in the Rams, who came up one win shy of reaching the Super Bowl last season. While Garrett provides a clear upgrade, the approach for the 49ers won't change much.
“We had to take care of Jared Verse. We have to take care of Myles Garrett. It’s an edge player,” Foerster said. “It’s different than when it was Aaron Donald. To take away an interior player is a different way to do it. I’m not saying they’re the same guy. Myles Garrett is an all-time great pass rusher. He’s an unbelievable talent. But he’s still an edge rusher.”
Quarterbacks coach Mick Lombardi took the big trade in stride, saying the Niners are used to going up against tough competition every week.
“Every game’s hard,” Lombardi said. “They have Myles Garrett. It is what it is. New players, free agency, trades, it’s so common nowadays. Everybody plays for different teams all the time. They have good players. I feel like every team we play has good players. But every week’s a challenge, so we’ll go out there and see what we can get done in the first week of the season.”
The 49ers signed safety Ashtyn Davis to a one-year deal to add depth at the position.
Davis grew up nearby in Santa Cruz and played in college at California before being drafted by the New York Jets in the third round in 2020. In six seasons with New York and Miami, Davis has 217 tackles, 19 passes defensed, nine interceptions, five forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries in 84 games.
The Niners waived running back Jermar Jefferson, who was signed last week.
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From left, Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead, left, defensive end Myles Garrett, and head coach Sean McVay pose for a photo during a press conference following the NFL football team's practice, Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Woodland Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
FILE - Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett celebrates with fans after an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/David Dermer, File)
California Democrats persuaded voters to let them redraw the state's congressional map so the party could potentially gain five seats in the U.S. House to counter GOP redistricting in Texas. Tuesday’s primary will be the first indication of whether that will pay off.
The state’s unusual primary system, in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party, means Democrats have a chance of effectively missing out on a pickup in the San Diego suburbs, where Republican Rep. Darrell Issa's district was redrawn to give it a slight Democratic lean.
Issa retired, and a Republican San Diego County supervisor, Jim Desmond, stepped in to run. So did an avalanche of nine Democrats — so many that some fear the Democratic vote will be split among them, leaving Desmond and the only other GOP candidate, Jim O’Neil, as the top vote-getters. Under that scenario, Democrats would be locked out of the November general election.
“After millions of dollars and a nationwide effort to redraw these districts in response to Texas, Democrats being shut out would be a nightmare,” said Ammar Campa-Najjar, a former Obama administration official who is one of the Democrats running.
California has been the bright spot for Democrats in a redistricting war kicked off by President Donald Trump to help his party retain control of the House. After Texas redrew its map to make as many as five more seats winnable for the GOP, California voters allowed Democrats to suspend their state’s own independent redistricting commission and create a new map in retaliation.
But when Virginia Democrats tried to replicate that, they were blocked by their state Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, letting Republicans eliminate some majority-Black congressional districts in the South.
Campa-Najjar, San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert and investor Brandon Riker, who is financing his own campaign, are the most prominent Democrats in the race for the seat vacated by Issa. Many Democrats are optimistic their voters will coalesce around one candidate and set up a competitive election this fall against Desmond, whom Trump endorsed.
The 48th district would not be the only competitive fall race for Democrats.
In the Central Valley, they redrew the seat held by Republican Rep. David Valadao to make it even more Democratic. Valadao is a survivor of several targeted Democratic campaigns and one of two remaining Republican House members who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
He's expected to make it to the general election, so the primary will determine which Democrat faces him — state Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains, a moderate backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or Randy Villegas, a political science professor at College of the Sequoias and a school board member who represents the party’s liberal wing.
The schism between establishment Democrats and a younger, insurgent progressive wing is a defining characteristic of many of this year's primaries.
In a safe Democratic district in San Francisco, Scott Wiener, a state lawmaker and former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, is considered likely to make the November race to replace retiring former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The suspense is over whether he will face Saikat Chakrabarti, a wealthy former technology entrepreneur who supported Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s insurgent primary in 2018, or Supervisor Connie Chan, who was endorsed by Pelosi.
In Sacramento, city council member Mai Vang is challenging 81-year-old Rep. Doris Matsui, who succeeded her late husband after he died in 2005.
Rep. Brad Sherman, whose Southern California district stretches from the San Fernando Valley to Malibu, is being challenged by Democrat Jake Levine, a 42-year-old lawyer who argues that it is time to move on from the 15-term congressman.
And in a redrawn district that stretches from Napa Valley into conservative Northern California farming communities, 14-term Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson has drawn a younger challenger, former venture capitalist Eric Jones.
California's congressional primaries also will determine the fate of Republicans targeted in the Democratic redraw.
In Southern California, sitting Republican Reps. Ken Calvert and Young Kim were drawn into the same conservative district and are battling over their pro-Trump credentials. That was on the mind of Brett Christensen, a 55-year-old school safety monitor who voted for Calvert on Tuesday because he thought the congressman had been a more reliable conservative vote.
“Young Kim’s voting record has not been consistent,” Christensen said outside a polling place in the city of Orange.
In the Sacramento suburbs, Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the GOP to become an independent and a critic of partisan gerrymandering, hopes to survive in one of the two Democratic-leaning districts where his more conservative district’s voters were scattered.
Meanwhile, in the San Francisco suburbs, six Democrats and two Republicans are running for the seat formerly held by Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned and ended his gubernatorial bid amid sexual harassment allegations. The top two vote-getters advance to the November ballot to fill the seat starting in 2027, while a special election will be held June 18 for the remainder of Swalwell's current term.
This story corrects the spelling of the name of a candidate who is running in San Francisco. It is Saikat Chakrabarti, not Saikat Charkrabati.
Amy Taxin in Orange, California contributed to this report
FILE - Mai Vang speaks to people at a campaign fundraiser, Jan. 21, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)
FILE - California Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, speaks during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Oct. 29, 2024.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
FILE - Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Jim Desmond, a Republican candidate for California's 48th Congressional District, poses for a portrait Friday, May 29, 2026, in Vista, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Marni von Wilpert, a Democratic candidate for California's 48th Congressional District, canvasses in a neighborhood Friday, May 29, 2026, in San Marcos, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Ammar Campa-Najjar, right, a Democratic candidate for California's 48th Congressional District, speaks with a family as he canvasses in a neighborhood Saturday, May 23, 2026, in San Marcos, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
