San Francisco 49ers happy to play the waiting game in addressing lingering need after free agency

Free agency is, for all intents and purposes, in the books, but there is one position where there are still a host of big names on the open market.

The market for many players at the safety position has been largely non-existent, with players such as former All-Pro Justin Simmons and three-time Pro Bowler Quandre Diggs still without a team.

That would appear to play into the hands of the San Francisco 49ers, who are seeking insurance at the position. Their starters are Ji'Ayir Brown, who enjoyed an encouraging rookie season, which included an interception in the Super Bowl, but played only five games in the regular season. Talanoa Hufanga, an All-Pro in 2022, is coming off a torn ACL that led to Brown's promotion to the starting lineup.

Yet the 49ers appear in no rush to address a lingering need for a quality backup behind that pair. Veteran Erik Harris, special teamer George Odum and Tayler Hawkins are the three safeties behind them on the depth chart.

The Niners recently had Julian Blackmon in for a visit but, per David Lombardi of The Athletic, were very open in telling him that he would not be guaranteed a starting role.

That may seem to be a strange thing to say to a 25-year-old coming off a career year who would put the 49ers in an excellent spot at a position of underrated importance.

Indeed, Blackmon recorded eight pass breakups and four interceptions, both of which served as career highs, in 2023. He also registered a career-high five tackles for loss.

Blackmon allowed a completion on just 11 of his 22 targets for 130 yards. His passer rating against of 28.8 was the best in the NFL among safeties with at least 20 targets. He was the fifth-best safety in the NFL by Expected Points Added allowed per target.

Yet the 49ers have a couple of reasons to not rush into signing a safety to a deal that would likely come with the expectation of a prominent role.

As Shanahan intimated, one factor is the play of their starting duo, with the flashes Brown showed proving extremely encouraging. The combination of instincts and athleticism that shone through on his college tape at Penn State were consistently on display once he got on the field, and he finished the regular season 23rd among the 116 safeties with at least 100 coverage snaps in Pro Football Focus coverage grade.