49ers Sign Safety Tavon Wilson to One-Year Deal

Do the 49ers really need another defensive back who's in his 30s?

Apparently they do.

They just signed 31-year-old strong safety Tavon Wilson, according to the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The terms of the contract have not yet been released, but Wilson probably received the veteran's minimum -- roughly $1 million.

The 49ers also recently have signed Jason Verrett and Dontae Johnson, both of whom will turn 30 next season. And there's Jimmie Ward, their starting free safety, who will turn 30 in July.

So the 49ers have an old secondary now.

But it's not clear if the 49ers signed Wilson to start, or to backup Tarvarius Moore, who will be 25 next season.

Last season, Wilson appeared in 15 games with the Indianapolis Colts, but started only two, and played just 219 defensive snaps. He was a veteran backup who also played special teams. So perhaps that's how the 49ers envision using him.

And as a veteran backup, Wilson would make sense. He played for Bill Belichick in New England and Matt Patricia in Detroit, meaning he should be well coached.

The Patriots drafted Wilson in the second round of the 2012 draft, but he never became a full-time starter with them. So when his rookie contract expired, he signed a two-year, $2 million deal with the Lions. Then he re-signed with the Lions in 2018, and then signed a one-year deal in Indianapolis in 2020.

Wilson is a career backup -- he should not start for the 49ers. But as a backup, he has missed only two games the past three seasons, as opposed to Jaquiski Tartt, the 49ers' former starting strong safety, who missed 21 games the past three seasons.

Seems like a decent signing.