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Free agent cornerback Brandon Flowers has signed with the San Diego Chargers, but prior to his signing the ex-Chiefs cornerback visited with the San Francisco 49ers. Fox Sports 1's Mike Garafolo is reporting the 49ers hosted Flowers this past Friday. The team has an open roster spot following Eric Wright's retirement last week. Jim Harbaugh has said the team will fill the roster spot in a "timely fashion".
The 49ers cornerback depth has talent, but also question marks as they prepare for the 2014 season. Tramaine Brock will start on one side of the field, while Chris Culliver or Chris Cook will likely start on the other side. Cook got first team reps with Brock during minicamp, but that was likely due to Culliver continuing to rehab his knee. Culliver tore his ACL last year in training camp. All indications are the recovery is going smoothly, but we won't really know for sure until we see him take the field next month at training camp.
The 49ers nickel situation is an even bigger mystery at the moment. A healthy Jimmie Ward is probably the favorite for the role, but he is still rehabbing his foot injury. He had surgery before the draft, and all indications are that he will be good to go for the start of training. The downside is that he will be behind in on-field work. I could see Perrish Cox opening training camp with No. 1 nickel work, but at some point Ward hopefully moves past him. And of course, Darryl Morris is also competing. Flowers likely could have competed for nickel work, although he struggled in that kind of role with the Chiefs.
The attempted transaction does not mean the 49ers will definitely add a cornerback with the 90th roster spot. It could still happen, but when an experienced veteran like Flowers becomes available, a team is going to kick the tires on him. I put together a poll late last week to see how people saw the 49ers filling that final roster spot. 48 percent went with cornerback, 13 percent went with offensive line, and 11 percent said tight end. The 49ers could really go anywhere with this roster spot. Cornerback would not be surprising, but I could also see them sign an offensive tackle.