One of the things on the 49ers’ offseason to-do list is figure out what to do at the starting cornerback spot alongside Charvarius Ward, and what to do at the nickel corner spot. While the team may explore the draft and free agency, free-agent-to-be Emmanuel Moseley is an option San Francisco wants to explore.
General manager John Lynch on Wednesday in a press conference gave an update on Moseley, who tore his ACL in Week 6 at Carolina, and expressed interest in bringing the 26-year-old back this offseason.
“E-Man is doing really well. He’s out on the field as we speak, working out here and rehabbing, doing really well,” Lynch said. “Most of the time, unless somebody’s hit a complication you typically hear doing really well, a little bit ahead of schedule because these guys are elite athletes and if you know Mose at all, his commitment to the process is going to be elite. And that’s what he’s done. He was down in L.A., rehabbing for a long time, we’ve had him back for the last couple weeks. He’s a free agent. He’s a guy we’d have interest in bringing back because of the way he plays, but also what he stands for. He’s one of us and we’d sure like to have him back.”
The 49ers signed Moseley as an undrafted rookie from Tennessee following the 2018 draft. He wound up earning a starting job on the 2019 defense that led the team to a Super Bowl appearance, and was playing perhaps the best football of his career in 2022 before going down late in the Week 6 win over Carolina.
Re-signing Moseley would solve the 49ers’ issue about who would start opposite Ward. It would also allow them to slide Deommodore Lenoir back to the slot where he could compete with 2022 fifth-round pick Samuel Womack.
Cornerback depth is key in the NFL, and re-signing Moseley would be a relatively inexpensive move that would very quickly improve the 49ers’ outlook in the secondary for 2023.
