49ers should take a flier on former Cardinals shutdown cornerback

The San Francisco 49ers seem mostly set with their free agency moves thus far. They have made a good number of additions to their defense, but it seems like they could make another addition to their secondary.

That is why the 49ers should sign former shutdown cornerback Patrick Peterson.

49ers should take a flyer on veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson

At his peak, Peterson was one of the most feared cornerbacks in the NFL. He had eight Pro Bowl seasons with the Arizona Cardinals including three first-team All-Pro seasons. He also was a feared punt returner, having a whopping four punt returns for touchdowns in his rookie season.

In total, he has had 36 interceptions in a great career. Like most players, and many cornerbacks, Peterson's production has slowed down in recent seasons but he has been respectable. As recently as 2022, he had five interceptions with the Minnesota Vikings, and last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he had two.

Of course, many Niner fans will remember last season when Peterson vowed that he would pick off Brock Purdy in the opening game of the season. That prediction proved to be quite wrong as the 49er offense torched the Steelers in a rout.

Despite that, the Niners could still benefit from having Peterson on their team. Yes, he will be 34 years old soon, and he is not the same player he used to be. However, the 49ers could still benefit from having another cornerback in the mix.

They have Charvarius Ward as their undisputed top cornerback, but after that it becomes less clear. Deomodore Lenoir and Isaac Yiadom seem to be the other starters as of right now, but Peterson could be another guy they get into the mix with his experience.

Plus, Peterson has expressed a willingness to play safety next season. It is unclear how he would fare in the role given that he is so used to being a cornerback, but with Talanoa Hufanga coming off an ACL tear it may benefit the team to have a veteran like Peterson as an insurance policy in case Hufanga is not the same when he returns.

This would be a low-risk, high reward signing for the 49ers. If they get a solid version of Peterson, it would provide stability and experience to their secondary, while if he struggles, they could release him and admit that the experiment just did not work out.

Peterson has stated that he wants to keep playing so he can win a Super Bowl. What better way to do so than join a perennial NFC contender that was just one or two plays away (perhaps just one interception away) from winning it all last season.

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