The 49ers Must Decide Whether to Extend this Former Draft Pick

Tough decision.

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One of the more underrated offseason discussions is whether the San Francisco 49ers should extend Ji’Ayir Brown or not this offseason. He is due a contract at the end of this season, and if they do not extend him before the season starts, the odds of him staying with the team start to go down. 

Will the San Francisco 49ers extend Ji’Ayir Brown?

If Brown goes into the season without a contract and plays well, he is going to want to test the free agent market because there could be a bidding war that will drive up his potential earnings. If he plays poorly, the 49ers are going to want to move on from him anyway. 

The 49ers have not publicly said how they feel about Brown, but it seems clear from the team's offseason moves that they would like him to be in the mix. During his first three seasons, he has had to compete to get into the starting lineup with someone, but this year it looks like he will be entering the year unchallenged opposite Malik Mustapha. 

San Francisco brought in three new cornerbacks, showing that they have no issue revamping the secondary. However, the safety room remains the same, if not thinner than last year, with Jason Pinnock out of the mix. Marques Sigle is the third safety, and he was benched for Brown last season. The team had plenty of chances to sign a safety and even passed on drafting a safety multiple times on draft weekend. Perhaps they did not like their options, but it seems more likely that they do like Brown.

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So, the team should try to talk to Brown. Earlier in the offseason, a three-year, $13M deal worth $4.3M per year was the projected value that Brown could get offered. Since then, Jaylin Hawkins signed a two-year, $10M deal, and Jaquan Brisker signed a one-year, $5.5M deal. 

It is hard to see Brown eclipsing either of those unless he has a stellar season, so the proposed deal is about right, as Brown is probably looking at no more than the Brisker deal on the open market. Perhaps kicking the deal up to $4.6M per year over three years would be enough security and close enough with recent free agent deals to keep Brown with the 49ers through the prime of his career. It will be interesting to see what both Brown and the 49ers want.