After entering the season with a thinner cornerback depth chart than they featured in recent years, the 49ers have needed to make multiple additions over the past several days.
Josh Norman and Dre Kirkpatrick are now on San Francisco’s roster, with injuries — most notably Jason Verrett‘s ACL tear — moving the team to add veterans. The 49ers have been in discussions to keep bolstering their corner corps, with The Athletic’s David Lombardi reporting Richard Sherman remains on the team’s radar (subscription required).
The 49ers and Sherman still have mutual interest in a reunion, according to Lombardi. Sherman, 33, played the past three seasons with the 49ers but has run into off-field trouble. A July arrest brought five misdemeanor charges for the former All-Pro, who had been on a few teams’ radars this offseason. This marks Sherman’s first known connection to a team since the arrest.
Initially, the 49ers and Sherman agreed to part ways ahead of free agency. But Sherman did not land anywhere in free agency. In May, the prospect of Sherman returning to San Francisco surfaced. The Raiders, Saints and Seahawks also held discussions with the acclaimed defender. Norman and Kirkpatrick’s arrivals notwithstanding, Sherman would help the 49ers further address a key need. After missing Week 1, outside corner Emmanuel Moseley is doubtful for San Francisco’s Week 2 tilt in Philadelphia with a knee injury.
These issues also prompted the 49ers to look to the trade market. The team inquired about Vikings corner Cameron Dantzler, Lombardi adds. Minnesota made the 2020 third-round pick a healthy scratch in Week 1. Dantzler started 11 games as a rookie but is now behind offseason additions Patrick Peterson and Bashaud Breeland. For now, the Vikings are holding off on a Dantzler deal. The 49ers then moved to Kirkpatrick, whom they auditioned earlier this year.
With Kirkpatrick and Norman in place as stopgaps, San Francisco’s cornerback spot certainly stands as a situation to monitor early in the season.
I am not convinced Breeland is actually better than Dantzler, he was awful in week 1
Breeland was great with Washington, but he’s been atrocious for the last three or so years. His run with the Chiefs during the Super Bowl season made him look better than he was when he grabbed some “right place, right time” interceptions, but when you look closer, you see that he is frequently beat on routes and clearly needs safety help over the time when dealing with fast receivers. The worst part about Breeland is his tendency to hold or commit interference when he knows he’s going to be best-he is good enough at hiding it that he doesn’t get called as often as he could, but I’ve seen a few interceptions of his that he could have very easily been called on. Others relied on another back covering the receiver while he ended up in place to catch the ball.
Rashad Fenton is a better option in my opinion than Breeland is today. I think Dantzler potentially could be as well. Breeland’s days as a boundary corner in my opinion have been behind him for a while (his play in Green Bay also showed similar tendencies-holding, interference, and being beaten on routes). If I were the Chiefs, I would look to my younger reserves right now in filling that spot.
I would love to see Dantzler traded to the 49ers. He’s still really young so could fit in there long term. If it doesn’t happen then I say bring Sherman back, he definitely is better than Dontae Johnson even if he has lost a step. Watching Johnson last week was hard to watch. Sherman, Norman, Kirkpatrick, the two rookies and Mosley should be back next week wouldn’t really be a bad secondary, can’t forget about Williams who’s a really good nickel cb. Mosley is a good too, even with him back and the guys they signed they’ll be fine I think. But would be nice to see them make a trade for a young talented CB after losing Varrett, that was a big blow to the secondary
I’m even on board with moving Kinlaw for CJ Henderson(as we have DJ Jones/Kerr/Givens/Hurst/Street ready to go anyways).
Or signing/working out Gareon Conley. He’s still only 26, and can’t be worse that guys we already have, but if he does work out, he’s the only one that could be a legit option for the long term. These 31-33yo’s aren’t going to be in SF next year. A 26yo might make a case.
It’s barely week 2
I would give a 2nd for the dolphins corner, maybe 2 2nd if needed.
2nd rounders are their highest picks until 2024. I’d say if they make a move like that, it should be for a guy who’s under 25yo, not a guy that’s about to turn 30. Sherman is an outlier. As is Stephon Gilmore. Only the best figure out how to play at a high level after 30.
dantzler is really good AND young. why the f would minnesota do that? sf is delusional. why not offer a 6th to your conference rival the rams for jalen ramsey and get him to agree to restructure his contract to the league minimum?
A bad GM is a GM that doesn’t make the call. Why not call a team that has a guy that’s behind multiple guys on the depth chart, and see if they want something for him? It didn’t hurt SF. They’re in the same position as if they had done nothing, but at least they made a call and asked. Sometimes teams want to move on from guys.
You never know unless you call, dude.
Calling teams and asking about young CB’s buried on the depth chart is literally the best possible thing John Lynch can do, as the guys in free agency are still available for a reason. Nobody knows when/if/how long Sherman could be suspended for anyways. They’re not going to just give up 2 2nds and a 1st for Gilmore, if they can give up a 5th for a 23yo. 25yo Sidney Jones was traded for a 6th round pick, and he’s a proven starting CB. Dantzler could probably had for similar, but who knows. It sounds more like Chicago didn’t want to move him as opposed to SF not offering enough, and obviously that means he’s doing something in practice that Chicago likes, which means our GM is targeting good players.
There’s a lot of guys that are buried on depth charts that teams would move for an extra pick, and it makes all the sense in the world for a CB-needy team to be calling those teams that literally have capable CB’s that aren’t getting any non-special teams snaps.
Obviously it’d be idiotic to call the Rams about Ramsey, and they didn’t do that. They called about a young CB prospect that isn’t playing right now and is healthy. They probably liked him in the draft but he was picked before they were comfortable taking him. I just don’t understand why you’re teasing a dude for doing his job well. It’s not like he gave up a 2nd round pick for a guy that hasn’t played any defensive snaps this year, they’re being active, and the post clearly says this call was made BEFORE they signed Dre Kirkpatrick, which means the GM is evaluating options. Just because it’s the only trade call that’s been reported DOESNT mean it’s the only one that’s taken place… stop being weird dude lmfao
Bring Sherman back dantzler won’t be moved
Sherman got torched most of last year !!