If the San Francisco 49ers are going to make another addition to their roster before training camp, it will most likely be at the safety position.

It's no secret the 49ers lack depth at safety, with rookie fourth-round pick Malik Mustapha and special teamer George Odum the likely backups to Ji'Ayir Brown and Talanoa Hufanga as it stands.

With Brown having only five regular-season starts to his name and Hufanga coming off a torn ACL, the Niners would benefit significantly from having a more experienced reserve on the depth chart. 

They made an offer earlier in the offseason to Rayshawn Jenkins, who instead signed with the Seattle Seahawks, seemingly for financial reasons, and also had Julian Blackmon in for a visit before he re-signed with the Indianapolis Colts.

San Francisco has, per general manager John Lynch, kept in touch with former starter Tashaun Gipson. However, a reunion with him was potentially complicated by the 34-year-old being handed a six-game suspension this week for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances.

I recently identified John Johnson III as a smart veteran signing the 49ers could make. Johnson enjoyed a quietly impressive 2023 season and has familiarity with Brandon Staley, who coached Johnson during Staley's time with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020 and is now the 49ers' assistant head coach.

But the 49ers' chance to reunite Johnson with his former defensive coordinator is gone after the Rams brought him back on a one-year deal, marking his third stint with the team.

Though the safety market has been very slow to move and there are still some big names available, the 49ers' options in terms of compelling potential veteran additions are diminishing.

Justin Simmons is the biggest name still on the market, and there is no doubt the 49ers would love to add a player of his talents to their defense. Simmons is a playmaker with 30 interceptions across a career that has seen him named second-team All-Pro four times. He boasts the ability to thrive playing the deep middle in single-high looks and has some familiarity with Staley from the 49ers assistant's brief spell with the Denver Broncos.

But the 49ers could be put off Simmons' financial demands, which are unlikely to be small, while they could view a player who will almost certainly want to start as a progress stopper for Brown.

The 49ers have previously been credited with an interest in former Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams. However, a box safety who lacks the versatility to do much else outside of rushing the passer should not carry too much appeal to San Francisco.

It isn't surprising given the 49ers' defense is an offshoot of the one ran by Pete Carroll in Seattle that they have expressed interest in a former Seahawk, yet it's probably the wrong one.

A better alternative would be Adams' former teammate Quanrdre Diggs, who is coming off the worst season of his career (passer rating allowed 103.9) but would likely come at a much cheaper price than Simmons and may be more willing to a accept a backup role following the travails of his final season with Seattle.

There are several other safeties still available, but finding players among that group that are strong fits outside of Simmons and Diggs is a difficult task. The safety market may have moved slowly, but now it has moved to a point where finding an affordable signing who can provide dependability behind the starters figures to be an increasingly challenging task.

San Francisco could have solved this issue by swaying Johnson to join them before the Rams took him back to LA. If the Rams are even more competitive in the NFC West than they were last year, the 49ers could be rueing not making a move for Johnson when they had a very long time to do so.

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