The 49ers’ depth at the safety position took a hit this offseason when veteran starter Tashaun Gipson departed in free agency. With a young, new up-and-comer in Ji’Ayir Brown and the veteran ballhawk reaching 34 years old, a return to San Francisco was unlikely.
That has been capitalized by the likely addition of veteran safety Tracy Walker, reported late Wednesday by The Athletic’s Matt Barrows.
Barrows announces that San Francisco plans to add the former Lions defensive back Thursday, when they will have to prepare an accompanying roster move to make room. The team did its homework on veteran safeties earlier in the offseason, hosting Rayshawn Jenkins and Julian Blackmon, but they ended up signing with the Seahawks and Colts, respectively.
Walker was a third-round pick for the Lions back in 2018 after an impressive four-year stretch for the Ragin’ Cajuns in Louisiana. After Walker came off the bench in his rookie season behind Glover Quin and Quandre Diggs, the offseason release of Quin allowed Walker to step up as a full-time starter in his sophomore campaign.
He struggled to hold down the starting job in 2020, splitting time with Jayron Kearse in the role, but returned to start 15 games in 2021. A torn Achilles tendon cost Walker most of his 2022 season.
Last year, Walker seemingly lost his starting job on the Lions defense. Coming back from the Achilles injury, Walker started five of Detroit’s first seven games. Young safeties Kerby Joseph and Ifeatu Melifonwu ended up taking over as the starters as the season went on. Walker was released by Detroit as a result, freeing up a good amount of cap space for the Lions.
Luckily, San Francisco doesn’t need Walker to come in as a starter. The 49ers are looking forward to the eventual return of former All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga, who missed the final seven games of 2023 with a torn ACL. Hufanga aims to return in time for the team’s season-opener, but in case there are any speed bumps along the road back to the field, Walker provides the 49ers with some starting experience next to Brown.