With several defensive quarterbacks set to attack the free agency, is it time to panic? The 49ers may be looking at a completely renovated secondary this season.

Of all the key positions on the 49ers’ list, the secondary remains the biggest concern. Essentially, the entire depth chart is in the air with Richard Sherman, Jason Verrett, K’Waun Williams, Ahkello Witherspoon and Jaquiski Tartt set to become free agents. 49ers cornerback Emmanuel Moseley was a restricted free agent, but he just signed a two-year agreement for $ 10 million, while strong security Marcell Harris was resigned for a year. The only proprietor who remains under contract is the 49ers Jimmie Ward’s free security guard.

49ers’ Secondary 2021 Free Agents

  • Richard Sherman – UFA
  • Jaquiski Tartt – UFA
  • K’Waun Williams – UFA
  • Jason Verrett – UFA
  • Ahkello Witherspoon – UFA
  • Dontae Johnson – UFA
  • Jamar Taylor – UFA
  • Emmanuel Moseley – RFA
  • Marcell Harris – RFA

Initial perspective

As it stands today, the 49ers have Moseley and Ward leading the group with many questions behind them.

Moseley is a cornerback versatile enough to play both outside and inside, which gives 49ers some options as to how they want to approach the off-season. Outside of Moseley, there are four unproven cornerbacks on the list: Tim Harris, Mark Fields, Adonis Alexander and Ken Webster.

Ward was the starting point of security for the 49ers last year, but is able to play at any point of security. Would it make any sense to promote Tarvarius Moore to free security and slide Ward into strong security?

The reason why I am suggesting these possible changes is because of the simple fact that it will be difficult to renew secondary school in the off-season. The 49ers have the great task of adding players with initial experience and / or young players to develop themselves in the next season. Your free agency choices may be limited if 49ers re-sign with Trent Williams for a potentially massive extension. 49ers have a lot of recruiting capital this year, but it’s usually a steep learning curve for developing defensive backs. Ideally, 49ers would like to keep their own agents free, but this seems unlikely – unless a difficult market allows 49ers to re-sign them on reasonable deals.

Free agency

As noted earlier, the 49ers’ approach to adding parts on the secondary depends largely on whether they retain their largest free agent pending on the Trent Williams tackle. From the current group of 49ers free agents, it would be fantastic if they were able to retain K’Waun Williams to continue their role in nickel back. Williams is one of the league’s most underrated players in a premium position. Based on your previous comments, Richard Sherman is unlikely to return in a 49ers uniform. A combination of injuries and inconsistencies probably ran its course for Tartt and Witherspoon.

Keeping Jason Verrett in a two-year deal at a reasonable price can be a win for both sides; I’m not sure if other teams are willing to make more offers for their services, due to their injury problems.

49ers usually don’t spend much on the defensive back with a greater emphasis on the defensive line to set the tone for the secondary. I would expect the 49ers to go hunting for bargains in the second wave of free agency after bigger free agent names like Shaquill Griffin of the Seahawks and William Jackson of the Bengals left the board.

Perhaps the 49ers will target veteran free agents in one-year deals, while completing high school with recruiting prospects to contribute at the end of the year. External cornerbacks, like Colts’ Xavier Rhodes, Packers’ Kevin King and Rams’ Troy Hill, come to mind. There also seems to be a good surplus of slotback cornerbacks like Nickell Robey-Coleman of the Eagles, Justin Coleman of the Lions and Desmond King of the Titans. It may be an optimistic thought, but the Raiders’ Lamarcus Joyner, the Jets’ Bradley McDougald and the Colts’ Malik Hooker are all good at security.

Draft

The 49ers enter the NFL draft with 10 choices in the draft, notably with seven of them on Day 3 – including three choices in the fifth round. As mentioned earlier, 49ers doesn’t normally spend much on secondary via a free agency, so I would expect the 49ers front office to be proactive in this draft. Maybe he’ll negotiate to get his guys, but given the 49ers’ strong need to retrofit his depth, I wouldn’t be surprised if they draft 3-4 defensive backs to complete the group.

Overview

The defensive philosophy of the 49ers has always prioritized the front seven over the secondary, but that doesn’t mean the team can simply survive on below-average talent – see last season against the Miami Dolphins with Brian Allen. They will need to find a good mix of seasoned veterans and recruitment candidates to take their high school to a respectable level; keeping some of its own agents free could help with the system’s stability efforts. Depending on how 49ers play their cards this off-season, the secondary can be the Achilles’ heel in their defense.

  • Justin Wong

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    Justin Wong has been writing for 49ers Webzone since 2017, while running an NFC West blog and podcast called Just The West. Feel free to follow him or direct any questions to @JustTheWest on Twitter.