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Will the 49ers Sign Free Agent Safety Jordan Whitehead?

The weakest position group on the 49ers currently is safety.
Grant Cohn|
Sep 29, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Jordan Whitehead (3) against the Philadelphia Eagles during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Sep 29, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Jordan Whitehead (3) against the Philadelphia Eagles during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The weakest position group on the 49ers currently is safety.

They let Talanoa Hufanga walk during free agency. And his replacement, Malik Mustapha, has a torn ACL. So the starters currently are Ji'Ayir Brown, who missed OTAs with an ankle injury, and Jason Pinnock, who signed a one-year deal with the 49ers this offseason.

That's why Bleacher Report says the 49ers should sign free agent safety Jordan Whitehead.

"Just two years ago, Whitehead logged a career-high four interceptions and tied a personal-best nine pass breakups with the New York Jets," writes Bleacher Report's Moe Moton. "He didn't force any turnovers with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, but a reunion with Robert Saleh could lead to another highly productive year.

"As the Jets head coach, Saleh saw Whitehead perform at his best with the help of his former defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich. The 49ers need a placeholder in one of their starting safety spots as Malik Mustapha recovers from a torn ACL.

"Mustapha went down in January, so he's likely to miss several weeks in the upcoming season. Whitehead, who's already familiar with Saleh's system, could step in as a spot starter."

I'm guessing Saleh would like to sign Whitehead, but I'm not sure how much more money the 49ers owners want to spend this offseason. They just gave up extremely lucrative contract extensions to Brock Purdy, George Kittle and Fred Warner plus they traded for Bryce Huff who isn't cheap. They currently rank third in cash spending for 2025. They might not want to spend anymore.

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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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