SF 49ers free agency: 5 cornerbacks Niners should target in 2021

No. 3: Troy Hill, LA Rams

There’s a real chance the Niners wind up moving on from K’Waun Williams, who has emerged as one of the better nickel cornerbacks in the league this season.

Injuries this season could lower Williams’ asking price. But San Francisco will want to have a contingency plan in place should Williams wind up signing elsewhere.

And if purging another NFC West division rival’s key contributors, Los Angeles Rams cornerback Troy Hill, winds up being the route taken, it could be beneficial to the SF 49ers in multiple ways.

Hill, who’ll turn 30 years old by the start of the 2021 season, has been a regular starter for Los Angeles the past three seasons. Unlike Quinton Dunbar with Seattle, Hill has been part of one of the league’s best pass defenses this year, as the Rams currently rank No. 2 in fewest pass yards allowed this season (2,006). Sure, cornerback Jalen Ramsey has been a big reason why.

But don’t overlook Hill’s 56 tackles, five passes defended and one interception this season.

Nickel corners rarely command the kind of money boundary cornerbacks get, meaning Hill probably won’t cost more than $3.5 million annually on a new deal.

That’s affordable from San Francisco’s vantage point.