Former 49ers Safety Logan Ryan Calls it a Career

Not many players can say they came off a cruise ship vacation to play and start for a playoff team like Logan Ryan did for the 49ers.

Jan 7, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers safety Logan Ryan (33) during the | Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Back to the cruise ship he goes.

Veteran safety Logan Ryan announced on Tuesday that he is calling it a career and will be officially retiring from the NFL after 11 seasons. Ryan signed with the San Francisco 49ers late in the season back in December as a result of Talanoa Hufanga being placed on season-ending injured reserve.

Ryan played eight games for the 49ers including the playoffs where he got to start in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs. He proved to be a valuable player in the end showing off his versatility as an adept player playing in the slot. Quite impressive for him to do so given this stage in his career.

For the last month, Ryan was a free agent, so I am sure the interest was little to no where for him. That might've been a sign for him to call it quits. He got to experience one last impressive playoff run with a Super Bowl appearance in which he got to start in.

The 49ers elected to go with Ryan in the slot than have Ambry Thomas on the outside. A questionable decision given Ryan is mainly a safety, but overall it didn't have too significant of an impact on the overall defensive performance in that game.

With Ryan gone, it only echoes that the 49ers do in fact have a need at safety. While he wasn't a staple, he is indicative of a theme at the position. Tashaun Gipson, who had been a starter for the last two seasons, is still a free agent and is up there in age.

Hufanga is also coming off a torn ACL, so really the only sure thing the 49ers have is Ji'Ayir Brown and he is very young. It'll be curious to see how the 49ers fill it out with their veterans gone.