Editor's note: The 49ers' season isn't over, but we'll keep one eye on the future with our weekly series on the team's biggest needs heading into 2019 and how voids can be filled best. In the first two parts, we focused on edge rusher and wide receiver. In the final installment, we look at the 49ers’ future at cornerback.
The 49ers’ cornerback situation, an easily identified weakness through most of the season, no longer is so easy to figure out.
In fact, after the final two games of the season, the 49ers might determine there are bigger offseason priorities than investing salary-cap space or a high draft pick in another cornerback.
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SIGN UP HERE After all, veteran Richard Sherman is expected to return for the second year of his three-year contract, and 49ers general manager John Lynch selected cornerbacks in the third rounds of the past two drafts.
Ahkello Witherspoon, a third-round choice in 2017, finished last season strongm and he was considered a starter for the foreseeable future. He struggled at the beginning of this season and lost his starting job, but he played well in recent weeks before sustaining a season-ending knee injury Sunday.
The 49ers invested a third-round pick in Tarvarius Moore this year, and he made the conversion from safety at Southern Miss to cornerback in the NFL. It has been a long process, but he'll make his first NFL start Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
Moore's bigger test could come in Week 17, if the Los Angeles Rams have to go all-out to win for either home-field advantage or a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs.
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Here are the cornerbacks who could stay, go or join the fold in San Francisco next season:
Players likely to stay in 2019
Richard Sherman
He might not have been all the way back from a torn Achilles that ended his final season with Seattle, but it's difficult to tell. That’s because the opposition rarely targeted him this season. He turns 31 in March and likely will be physically better in 2019 with more time to regain his strength.
In addition, Sherman was a great teammate and mentor in his first 49ers season. His addition was nothing but positive.
Ahkello Witherspoon
Just like a year ago, Witherspoon finished strong before sustaining a knee injury that sent him to injured reserve to finish the season. Unlike a year ago, Witherspoon will be pushed for a starting job in 2019. He figures to face a stiff challenge from Moore and anyone else who's added in the offseason.
“He’s got to improve,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said this week of Witherspoon. “Hopefully, he’ll come back here ready to go next year and take off the way he finished.”
Players likely to go
Jimmie Ward
There was hesitation in putting Ward under this category. The general public might believe it's a foregone conclusion that Ward will not return to the 49ers. But not so fast.
Ward might not return at cornerback, anyway, but he could be back at safety, as the 49ers’ coaching staff loves his versatility to play any spot in the secondary. They also appreciate how Ward plays the game. The 49ers believed Ward was playing better than anyone in the secondary before he sustained a fractured forearm last month.
The issue with Ward has been his availability. Four of his five NFL seasons have ended with him sustaining broken bones. He plays hard, and that’s what the 49ers love about him. He's scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent, and while the 49ers would like to bring him back, it almost certainly would be on a one-year, prove-it contract.
Greg Mabin
The 49ers will look to improve their depth at cornerback, so that would leave Mabin in an uphill battle to return. He's scheduled to be an exclusive-rights free agent in the offseason.
49ers' offseason plan
Free agency
Just like any year, if a quality cornerback becomes available on the free-agent market, the price will go through the roof.
The best options this March could be Denver’s Bradley Roby and Kansas City’s Steven Nelson. Both players are listed at 5-foot-11, 194 pounds. Roby played this season on the fifth-year option, making $8.526 million. Nelson is wrapping up his fourth NFL season and is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent. He has four interceptions and 14 passes defensed this season.
Draft
The safest bet at this stage is for the 49ers to select an edge rusher with the first-round pick. However, if the best ones are taken, the 49ers could go with 6-foot-2 LSU cornerback Greedy Williams early in the draft.
Picking near the top of the second round, such 6-1 corners as Amani Oruwariye (Penn State) and Trayvon Mullen (Clemson) could be options.
Bottom line
The 49ers very well might be fine with Sherman, Witherspoon and Moore as their top three cornerbacks heading into next season. After all, a better pass rush would provide assistance to the cornerbacks in covering wide receivers on the outside.
But it's clear the 49ers want more competition across the board. It's difficult for any team to keep its cornerbacks healthy for an entire season, so it's also imperative for the team to increase the competition in training camp and enter the regular season with better depth.