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Report: The 49ers are Signing Falcons FS Richie Grant to a 1-Year Deal

This is underwhelming.
Grant Cohn|
Oct 3, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons safety Richie Grant (27) reacts after a tackle against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Oct 3, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons safety Richie Grant (27) reacts after a tackle against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

This is underwhelming.

The 49ers are signing a free agent safety, but not an impact player. Not even a starter. No, they're signing Atlanta Falcons backup free safety Richie Grant to a one-year deal according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. The terms of the deal have not yet been released, but it's probably cheap.

Grant was a second-round pick in 2021, and he was a starter in 2022 and 2023. But he didn't play well, and so the Falcons benched him last year. Now he's a backup for the 49ers.

If you were hoping they would sign a good starting safety such as Jevon Holland, Justin Reid or Julian Blackmon, forget about it. The 49ers are signing backups this offseason because they're saving most of their cash for Brock Purdy, apparently.

Expect the 49ers to draft a free safety relatively early in the upcoming draft. They're clearly in the market for one, Grant is a backup and third-year safety Ji'Ayir Brown is a better fit at strong safety because he's slow. New defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and assistant head coach Gus Bradley want more speed at the safety position.

Unfortunately, Grant ran a 4.57 at his Pro Day. He's not particularly fast. He will make his biggest impact on special teams, where the 49ers struggled big time last season.

Still, the 49ers need to draft starters at free safety, linebacker, defensive tackle and guard, plus they need to draft depth at wide receiver, offensive tackle, defensive end and cornerback.

Otherwise, their roster is set for 2025.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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