Best available NFL free agents: Who makes sense for the 49ers 90th roster spot?

Last week, Eric Wright announced his retirement from the NFL, leaving the San Francsico 49ers with a free roster spot. The 49ers followed that up by bringing free agent cornerback Brandon Flowers to town for a visit. Flowers ended up signing with the San Diego Chargers, leaving the 49ers with the open roster spot.

Jim Harbaugh said the team would fill the spot in a timely fashion. The 49ers have several weeks to figure this out, but you'd think the team would want a new player to have some time to learn the playbook. Of course, given that the 90th player is likely to end up getting released later in August, maybe they don't want him to get tooooooo much time with the playbook.

Last Friday, I put together a poll asking which position the 49ers would fill with their 90th roster spot. Cornerback finished first with 48 percent of the vote. The rest finished as follows:

Offensive line - 13%
Tight End - 11%
Kicker/Punter - 8%
Safety - 5%
Inside Linebacker - 4%
Outside Linebacker - 3%
Defensive Line - 3%
Wide Receiver - 2%
Quarterback - 1%
Fullback - 1%
Running Back 1%

I decided to take a look at some of the many available free agents out there. CBS Sports and ESPN had a ranking of available free agents. CBS did not have every free agent out there, but rather the top 186. I'm not sure why they went with that, but from that group, there were 24 unsigned players listed. I went with a similar 24 best available from ESPN as well, even though they listed a lot more available free agents.

In looking at this list, I don't expect the 49ers to grab one of the more notable names at this point. However, at some point they could decide another tight end or offensive guard is necessary while Alex Boone and/or Vernon Davis continue their respective holdouts. Maybe a Dustin Keller or Fred Davis. If Vernon Davis sits out a sizable chunk of the regular season, maybe the 49ers go after Jermichael Finley. He would need to be medically cleared first, but he could end up on the radar as the season approaches.

Some other cornerbacks not listed below include Michael Adams, Aaron Berry, Marquice Cole, Quentin Jammer, D.J. Moore, Dunta Robinson, Justin Rogers, Aaron Ross, and Corey Webster. None of these guys really jumps out at this point. At this point, I only see a cornerback addition if the 49ers are midway through the preseason and not particularly pleased with the performance of their current group. Otherwise, I think they stick with what they've got.