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Who Will Start at Free Safety for the 49ers in 2025?

Talanoa Hufanga signed with the Broncos this week, so who will replace him in the 49ers' defensive backfield?
Grant Cohn|
Nov 10, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; San Francisco 49ers safety Ji'Ayir Brown (27) gets ready for a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Nov 10, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; San Francisco 49ers safety Ji'Ayir Brown (27) gets ready for a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

Talanoa Hufanga signed with the Broncos this week, so who will replace him in the 49ers' defensive backfield?

Technically, Hufanga played strong safety for the 49ers and Malik Mustapha played free safety. That was under defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen who has been replaced by Robert Saleh. And Saleh typically wants fast defensive backs.

That's why the 49ers signed free safety Jason Pinnock this week to a one-year, $2.2 million contract with $1.2 million guaranteed. Pinnock is a former college cornerback who ran a 4.49 at his Pro Day. Athletically, he's similar to Jimmie Ward who was the 49ers free safety when Saleh was their defensive coordinator the first time.

Don't be surprised if Saleh moves Mustapha from free safety to strong safety and starts Pinnock. Saleh drafted Pinnock back in 2021 when Saleh was the head coach of the Jets. Now they're reunited.

Pinnock's main competition currently on the roster is Ji'Ayir Brown, whom Saleh doesn't know. Brown was a third-round pick in 2023 when Steve Wilks was the defensive coordinator and he's more of a strong safety than a free safety because he's relatively slow. Also, Brown's base salary is $1.7 million this year, which means he'll get paid less than Pinnock.

Still, the fact that the 49ers gave Pinnock just a one-year deal indicates that they'll look to draft a free safety who can compete with him and potentially beat him out as the starting free safety.

It's even possible that the 49ers could spend their first-round pick on a safety. Perhaps South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori, who ran a 4.38 at 220 pounds last month at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Get to know the top safety prospects in the upcoming draft. You know the 49ers already have.

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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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