49ers free agency: 5 bargain cornerbacks Niners can still target

49ers Cornerback Target No. 3: Quinton Dunbar

It’s still not entirely clear whether or not San Francisco’s new defensive coordinator, DeMeco Ryans, will implement the same philosophy of boundary corners his predecessor, now-New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh, had with big-bodied and lanky defensive backs manning the outside in a zone-style system.

The shift to shorter players like Jason Verrett and Emmanuel Moseley, but under 6-foot-0, suggests it’s not mandatory to have players of 6-foot-2 ilk. But there’s still an opening for taller corners on the 49ers depth chart anyway.

This wouldn’t be the first time Niner Noise has suggested the team targets former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar, who at 6-foot-2 and 202 pounds, fits the mold for what the Niners used to do with the position.

And considering Seattle ran a nearly identical Cover 3-like system as Saleh operated the last four years, one can see the schematic fit for a player like Dunbar.

The 28-year-old Dunbar had a down year with the Seahawks last season after being picked up from the Washington Football Team last offseason. But one might hope he’d bounce back in a situation where the pass rush in front of him would be far more potent, taking pressure off him to maintain coverage for longer periods of time.

Plus, considering his apparent regression in 2020, one would figure he’d cost San Francisco no more than $2 million in annual average value. That would be a boost for a player already familiar with the system.