{"id":120351,"date":"2025-06-11T03:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T03:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/120351\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T03:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T03:29:10","slug":"49ers-identified-as-top-landing-spot-for-veteran-defensive-back-before-week-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/120351\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers identified as top landing spot for veteran defensive back before Week 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Francisco 49ers<\/a> were disappointing in 2024, finishing with a 6-11 record and in fourth place in the NFC West, as they dealt with poor performances, from both players and coaches, and injuries to some of their key contributors.<\/p>\n

This offseason, San Francisco saw massive turnover in their secondary, including at safety, where Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, Talanoa Hufanga and Tashaun Gipson hit the market, while Jason Pinnock and Richie Grant joined the 49ers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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On top of those changes, one of the big injuries San Francisco will have to overcome to start their 2025 campaign is 2024 fourth-round pick Malik Mustapha suffering an ACL injury this offseason that will cost him the beginning of the year.<\/p>\n

Without Mustapha lining up as a starting safety, the 49ers could be looking for another veteran to help out, and interestingly, Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton recently identified them<\/a> as a top landing spot for free agent safety Jordan Whitehead.<\/p>\n

“As the Jets head coach, Saleh saw Whitehead perform at his best with the help of his former defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich,” Moton wrote. “The 49ers need a placeholder in one of their starting safety spots as Malik Mustapha recovers from a torn ACL.<\/p>\n

“Mustapha went down in January, so he’s likely to miss several weeks in the upcoming season. Whitehead, who’s already familiar with Saleh’s system, could step in as a spot starter.”<\/p>\n

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Whitehead, 28, played collegiately at Pittsburgh from 2015-18, earning All-ACC honors in his second season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took him in the fourth-round of the 2018 NFL draft and made him a starter as a rookie.<\/p>\n

After four seasons in Tampa Bay, Whitehead spent two with the New York Jets<\/a> before going back to the Buccaneers for the 2024 season. In total, he’s appeared in 105 games and started 101 while recording 557 tackles (31 for a loss), 45 passes defensed, 11 interceptions, seven quarterback hits, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumbles recovered.<\/p>\n

Whitehead could be a significant addition in San Francisco in 2025, especially at the beginning of the season to help make up for Mustapha’s absence.<\/p>\n

More 49ers: 9 things to watch at 49ers mandatory minicamp<\/a><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers seen as best fit for free agent safety Jordan Whitehead<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Francisco 49ers were disappointing in 2024, finishing with a 6-11 record and in fourth place in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,8348,7,3320,2662,9039,3314,255,1593,6,520,3321,1161,252,2624,2623,3319,704,250,29351],"class_list":{"0":"post-120351","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-demetrius-flannigan-fowles","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-jason-pinnock","12":"tag-jeff-ulbrich","13":"tag-jordan-whitehead","14":"tag-malik-mustapha","15":"tag-new-york-jets","16":"tag-nfc-west","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-pittsburgh","19":"tag-richie-grant","20":"tag-san-francisco","21":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","22":"tag-sanfrancisco","23":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers","24":"tag-talanoa-hufanga","25":"tag-tampa-bay","26":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","27":"tag-tashaun-gipson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114662615538776199","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}