49ers insider predicts team’s starters at safety

The San Francisco 49ers were without starting safety Malik Mustapha for the entire offseason and will presumably be without him for part of the 2025 regular season. Mustapha re-injured his ACL at the end of the 2024 season and had surgery on the knee this offseason. The 49ers did not release that information until after the draft.

Mustapha will likely begin the season on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list, meaning he will miss at least the first four games. Third-year safety Ji'Ayir Brown is also coming back from an injury, an ankle procedure that forced him to miss the offseason program. But Brown should be ready for training camp.

With their two starting safeties currently injured, and Mustapha likely to miss game time, the 49ers must decide who to put out on the field, especially when the regular season begins. During the offseason program, veteran safeties Jason Pinnock and Richie Grant both took starter reps. And during the draft, the 49ers selected Kansas State safety Marques Sigle. The coaches reportedly like Sigle. He's fast and smart, but can a rookie be expected to start at safety in week one?

Matt Maiocco, of NBC Sports Bay Area, addressed the safety position on Saturday. Maiocco does a podcast with his colleague from NBC Sports Bay Area, Jennifer Lee Chan, but he also has his own YouTube channel. Maiocco spoke about the 49ers' safety position on that channel, and he has a good idea of who will start at the position until Mustapha returns. Is that player currently on the team, or could we see the 49ers sign a free agent?

"...It's probably the one spot [safety] where people could look at and go, 'Might the 49ers still seek some help on the veteran market?' You know, somebody like Justin Simmons," Maiocco said. "And I don't necessarily think that's going to be the case. Simmons remains a free agent. Certainly, he's been out there for quite some time. If the 49ers wanted him, they could certainly go get him. I would think, though, that they would wait until training camp. And I would think that Justin Simmons would wait until training camp at this point to kind of see where he has his best fit, potentially with a team that's a contender that would need a safety. And I think the 49ers are more than likely right now comfortable with their safety position just because of how they expect the health situation of their team to shake out."

So if the 49ers don't make a move at safety, they have seven safeties on their roster from which to choose. Maiocco pointed out in the podcast that the 49ers started the 2024 season with four safeties and kept four throughout the season. So that is probably the number they will be looking at again for 2025.

We know Mustapha won't be one of the four because he'll be placed on PUP. Brown will be a starter in week one as long as he's healthy. But who will be the other starter?

"Another, the other guy that I think is going to be a starter when the season begins is Jason Pinnock," Maicocco added. "The 49ers feel like they got him at a really good price, a one-year deal, $2.2 million. Now, Pinnock is somebody that entered the NFL as a draft pick of Robert Saleh and the New York Jets. He played for the Jets his rookie season, and then in August of year two, he gets released (waived, I should say). Robert Saleh told him, 'If you clear waivers, we would love you back on the practice squad.' He did not clear waivers. The New York Giants claimed him. And over the past two seasons, he started 32 games for the Giants.

"Now, I talked to him last week, and he's really excited about this opportunity. He says when he signed with the 49ers, he didn't even know about Mustapha's injury. But the door is wide open, and the expectation is that he will be a starter. He says he sees himself as a starter with still a lot of upside. He's got it all. When you look at his size, the speed, the football intelligence, everything else, the passion for the game. I think the 49ers may have got themselves a pretty good player in free agency, somebody that did not have, you know, the opportunity to sign a big-time contract with another team, a multi-year deal. But when I asked him about where he can take his game in year five in the NFL, what he pointed to specifically are the takeaways, the big plays. It's the interceptions, it's the forced fumbles, it's the fumble recoveries. And so over those two seasons as the full-time Giants starter at safety, only two interceptions and two forced fumbles. However, he did have 85 tackles per season. and five sacks over that time. So he can make plays.

"Like I said, he's got the size, the speed, everything to go ahead. And he's a converted cornerback, too. So he's a guy who could make a really big impact, and I think a very much under-the-radar signing for the 49ers. So keep an eye on Jason Pinnock. I expect him to be a starter week one, and the door's wide open for him to be a starter throughout the season, even when Mustapha returns."

It's not surprising that Maiocco expects Pinnock to be the starter in Mustapha's place. But the last part, about Pinnock possibly remaining a starter once Mustapha returns, is a little surprising. And that statement by Maiocco likely isn't an indictment on Mustapha, as much as it is on Brown, who looked good as a rookie, but not so much last season. But was that because Brown suffered a sophomore slump, or because Nick Sorensen was his defensive coordinator?

Pinnock isn't the only veteran safety with a chance to make an impact for the 49ers. Grant, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons, has caught the attention of several observers throughout the offseason, most notably KNBR's Larry Krueger, who liked Grant coming out of college.

"Another veteran that they picked up was Richie Grant, who got off to a good start with the Falcons," Maiocco continued. "He started 32 games for them over the '22 and '23 seasons. Three interceptions during that time. But he only had the one start last year and really turned into a special-teamer with the Falcons. So I think the 49ers bring him in primarily as special teams, but it was Grant and Pinnock who were running with the ones during the 49ers' offseason program. So keep an eye on Richie Grant, as well."

Maiocco also mentioned George Odom, but he is a special-teams star who will not likely play on defense unless there is a barrage of injuries. Jalen Mahoney is another safety who Maiocco said to keep an eye on, not as a starter, but as one who could potentially make the roster.

Finally, Maiocco mentioned the rookie, Sigle.

"He has decent size. 5'11, 200 pounds," Maiocco said. "Again, former cornerback, but was a team captain at Kansas State. Also started his career at North Dakota State, played there for three years. Again, a guy with a lot of versatility. He can play man coverage, can play zone coverage, can be a slot corner. He compares himself to Brian Branch, the outstanding defensive back of the Detroit Lions, just in style. But Marques Sigle, somebody we did not see during the off-season program, as he went through physical therapy from an injury. The 49ers did not have him out there on the field, but somebody who could show up and make an impact. But I think his ticket year one is going to be as a special teamer.

"So seven safeties right now. Four are going to make the team. The question is, which four are those going to be? I do think that there's going to be some good competition for those final spots on the 49ers' 53-man roster at the safety position."

It will be fun to watch the 49ers' safeties battle it out during training camp. Who do you believe will make the initial roster? And who will be the starters until Mustapha returns—and after?

To see what else Maiocco had to say about the 49ers' safeties, you can find the video below: