Why Stephon Gilmore Makes Perfect Sense For The San Francisco 49ers

Cornerback is going to be a major need for the San Francisco 49ers once free agency starts in the matter of a few weeks.

Last season saw San Francisco rely on a washed up Josh Norman as well as greenish cornerback Ambry Thomas. The end result was a defense that yielded 25 touchdowns against a mere nine interceptions for a 97.0 opposing quarterback rating.

While Thomas played extremely well as his rookie season drew on, San Francisco remains ultra thin at corner. The likes of Jason Verrett, K’Waun Williams and Dontae Johnson are slated to become free agents. Sure the 49ers might retain Verrett on the cheap. But relying on the injury-plagued corner was foolish in the first place before he suffered a torn ACL in Week 1.

The short of it? These 49ers will need to add a starter-caliber veteran cornerback once free agency opens.

Enter into the equation former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore. Former 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman noted recently that he believes Gilmore will sign with wither San Francisco or the Seattle Seahawks.

For a player in Gilmore who is entering the back end of his prime, it actually makes much more sense to sign with the 49ers. He wants to win. San Francisco is obviously much closer to contending than Seattle after earning its second NFC Championship Game appearance in three seasons.

There’s numerous reasons why Gilmore makes sense for the San Francisco 49ers. Here’s a look at a few of them.

Projecting Stephon Gilmore’s Contract

Traded by the New England Patriots to Carolina midway through the 2021 season, Gilmore just finished up a five-year, $65 million contract. Said deal called for $31 million guaranteed at signing and a total of $40 million guaranteed.

Gilmore signed said deal when he was 27. He’s not going to get anywhere near that on the free-agent market at 31. There’s also no reason to believe any team is going to offer Gilmore anything more than two or three years on his next contract.

Gilmore is still looking at top-20 cornerback money. That is to say between $8 and $10 million annually.

For their part the 49ers are currently $2.95 million under the projected 2022 NFL salary cap. That number is in no way etched in stone. General manager John Lynch and Co. will work tirelessly over the next few weeks to lower that cap number. This includes trading Jimmy Garoppolo while restructuring/extending many contracts.

MORE FROM FORBESThe Finances Of A Potential Jimmy Garoppolo Trade From The San Francisco 49ersBy Vincent Frank

All said, the 49ers could end up having north of $50 million to spend under the salary cap if they play their cards close to the vest. Sure extending Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa are off-season priorities, but the 49ers can afford to add someone of Gilmore’s ilk to the mix.

Let’s say it’s a three-year deal worth $30 million. San Francisco can get away with roughly a $7 million cap hit for 2022 with salary cap guru and vice president Paraag Marathe working his magic.

Stephon Gilmore As A Fit For The San Francisco 49ers

It goes without saying that Gilmore is legitimately a perfect fit in defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans’ system. The five-time Pro Bowler stands at 6-foot-1 and boasts the frame to play press coverage. This isn’t something San Francisco was able to do on a consistent basis last season with the lack of experience at cornerback.

In terms of what the veteran brings to the table, he excelled for Carolina after finding himself 100% following a quad injury. The cornerback gave up two touchdowns against two interceptions while yielding a 78.6 passer rating when targeted.

A boundary corner in the truest sense of the term, Gilmore would be a perfect fit opposite the aforementioned Thomas. After finding himself in Kyle Shanahan’s dog house early in his rookie season, the third-round pick from Michigan played pretty well. That included yielding a 63% completion mark when targeted.

Signing Stephon Gilmore would also free San Francisco up to move fellow 2021 NFL Draft pick Deommodore Lenoir to the slot as a cheap replacement for K’Waun Williams should the veteran find himself priced out of the 49ers market in free agency. It just makes too much sense.