The San Francisco 49ers seem fairly set at the cornerback position, but there is a familiar face still available in free agency. Emmanuel Moseley was a Niner from 2018 to 2022, but injuries have limited him in recent seasons.
Moseley signed with San Francisco after going undrafted in the 2018 NFL Draft out of the University of Tennessee. It turned out to be a great move by the 49ers as Moseley was an important player and eventually became a starting cornerback.
He played a big role in 2019 when it was clear that Ahkello Witherspoon was just not cutting it as a starting cornerback. Moseley came in and provided some much more consistent play at the position, which helped San Francisco reach the Super Bowl that season. In his career with the 49ers, he had four interceptions and made 162 combined tackles.
Unfortunately, injuries were also a big part of Moseley's time in the Bay Area. He missed time in 2021 with a high-ankle sprain, and then in 2022, he suffered a torn ACL in Week 5 that ended his season.
After the 2022 season, Moseley signed with the Detroit Lions. Unfortunately, the 29-year-old veteran has only played three total games in Detroit over the last two seasons. In 2023, Moseley tore his ACL yet again, and then in 2024, he tore a pectoral muscle which limited him for most of the year.
It is a shame that injuries robbed Moseley of a chance to prove himself in Detroit. One hopes he can make a full recovery from his injuries and find a new home, but there is a decent chance that it is going to take a while for him, as well as other former 49ers who are free agents, to be signed.
A reunion with San Francisco is not completely off the table. Robert Saleh was San Francisco's defensive coordinator back in 2018 when the team initially signed Moseley, and he saw how well the former undrafted free agent played in 2019. It would not be the worst thing to have some added depth at cornerback.
We saw San Francisco reunite with Ross Dwelley recently, so reunions are not off the table even in an offseason where the 49ers have tried to save money and get younger.
Moseley will probably not have a ton of takers in free agency, but maybe San Francisco will take a flyer on him to see what he has left in the tank.