4 SF 49ers who don’t deserve another season in 2022

No. 1: 49ers cornerback Josh Norman

San Francisco was already shorthanded at cornerback when it elected to sign veteran free-agent corner Josh Norman at the very beginning of the regular season. And when the 49ers lost Jason Verrett for the year, one could make the argument adding Norman was a smart move done just before it was absolutely necessary.

Years ago, signing Norman would have been a massive free-agent splash. Yet Norman was nowhere close to the player he was during his heyday years with the Carolina Panthers. Instead, the 34-year-old Norman showed his age, regularly not being able to keep up with opposing receivers and surrendering 40 catches on 60 targets for 542 yards and four touchdowns, all for an allowed passer rating of 110.6.

If that wasn’t troublesome enough, Norman also led the Niners with seven penalties against, frequently holding or committing defensive pass interference to try and make up for his declining coverage skills.

The whole experiment eventually resulted in Norman being relegated to the bench and prompting yet an even bigger discussion about San Francisco’s deficiencies at the position heading into 2022.

Retaining Norman, a pending free agent, would only continue those discussions, not solve them.