The 49ers Re-Sign Jason Verrett
In this story:
One more chance.
That's what the 49ers just gave veteran cornerback Jason Verrett. Today, they announced they signed him a one-year deal that's probably worth the veteran minimum. Verrett is coming off a torn ACL, he missed all but one game last season, and he'll turn 31 in June.
Consider this signing a Hail Mary.
If it works out and Verrett is healthy, he will be their best cornerback and one of the top corners in the league, as he was in 2020. That season, he was healthy, and he was the main reason the 49ers' defense ranked fifth in the NFL even though Nick Bosa tore his ACL Week 2.
Verrett is strong, he's aggressive, he's terrific in coverage and he intercepts passes -- he would be the total package if he could stay healthy. But he has played more than six games in a season only twice in his career.
At this point, Verrett is nothing more than a training-camp body. The 49ers shouldn't put any expectations on him, and I doubt they have. Their main cornerbacks are Charvarius Ward, Emmanuel Moseley and Ambry Thomas. The 49ers don't need Verrett to make the team.
But I'm sure they're rooting for him. Because a tandem of him and Ward would be elite, and the 49ers haven't had an elite cornerback tandem since 1994 when they had Deion Sanders and Eric Davis and they won the Super Bowl. Plus, Verrett has had such bad luck in his career. It's hard not to root for him.
