The San Francisco 49ers weren’t able to land significant cornerback help on the free agent market.
They had cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. in for a workout Monday after he was cleared for football activities following spinal fusion surgery over the offseason. San Francisco’s hopes of signing Samuel were dashed Tuesday when ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported the free agent CB is joining the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday told reporters on a conference call that the team thought highly of Samuel and wanted to see where he was physically after his major offseason surgery.
Instead of joining a 49ers club that is trying to piece together a playoff-caliber defense, Samuel instead went to Pittsburgh where they’re trying to plug holes on a defense that is last in the NFL in passing yards allowed. There was a chance Samuel could carve out a role with the 49ers, but he might wind up starting the rest of the year in Pittsburgh if he’s healthy.
San Francisco, as with the trade deadline, wasn’t one player away from fixing its defense. A player like Samuel certainly would have helped, though.
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