Current Safeties Are Effective
If the safety position was a pressing need that if filled would lead to a Super Bowl victory, it would have been more justifiable for the San Francisco 49ers to make an aggressive trade for Jamal Adams. With Jaquiski Tartt and Jimmie Ward, the 49ers are already solid.
Almost any team in the NFL would get better by acquiring an All-Pro like Adams. However, all that would have been required to pull off the trade would have to account for in comparison to the current production already being provided.
During the 2019 season, Tartt put together the best season of his career and played a pivotal role in the 49ers’ prowess in the red-zone. He contributed 49 combined tackles and a pair of pass breakups during his 12 performances last season. Meanwhile, Ward accounted for 65 combined tackles and eight pass breakups in 13 contests.
The main concern with the current options at safety for the 49ers has been durability. However, Tartt and Ward appeared in a majority of San Francisco’s regular-season matchups in 2019 and as expected, the rest of the unit benefited.
For the price of $4.3 million in 2020, Tartt will actually make more than Adams, as well as in 2021, but they had just re-signed Ward to a three-year deal worth $28.5 million. The potentially record-setting deal for a safety Adams will command afterward is where the concern begins, which carries over into the next point…
