4 free-agent cornerbacks 49ers need to consider for their roster

The 49ers could use some help at cornerback just two weeks into 2023, and these four free agents may just do the trick.

There've been a handful of times when the San Francisco 49ers, under head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, have splurged on a cornerback.

Richard Sherman in 2018 was one example. Grabbing Charvarius Ward in 2022 was another.

Heading into 2023, and despite some efforts to reinforce this positional group, the Niners may still need additional help at cornerback despite Ward's presence and some other offseason moves. One of those previous free-agent pickups, Isaiah Oliver, struggled notably during the preseason and at various points in Weeks 1 and 2 (despite picking up a clutch interception against the Los Angeles Rams).

Second-year corner Samuel Womack is expected to miss six to eight weeks with an injury, and both Ambry Thomas and Deommodore Lenoir have been banged up, too.

Are any of those three true starting-caliber options anyway? That's debatable.

With San Francisco freeing up over $42 million in cap space by the way of restructured deals and extensions, money for a free-agent cornerback shouldn't be an issue.

Considering that, the 49ers should be looking at these still-available corners to help beef up this spot on the roster.

Update: The Niners ended up signing one of the cornerbacks on our list. Kudos to us being right, as this piece was written before San Francisco announced the one-year deal and published not long after.

49ers free-agent target No. 4: Bradley Roby

Perhaps the Niners are already thinking in this direction. Because, as reported by NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, veteran free-agent cornerback Bradley Roby was going to work out for San Francisco:

Roby, 31 years old, spent the previous two seasons with the New Orleans Saints but was a cap casualty heading into 2023.

While he'd likely be only a stopgap option to alleviate some of the injury concerns the 49ers have at the position, currently, Roby did manage to hold opposing quarterbacks to a commendable 79.4 passer rating when targeting him a year ago.

And he'd likely be awfully cheap at this stage of his career, too.