The Atlanta Falcons made one of the first big moves of the offseason following Super Bowl 53 when they released cornerback Robert Alford. The Falcons made the move because Alford had his worst season as a pro, turned 30 this past season, and was going to have a cap hit of $9.1 million this season. The Falcons cleared $7.9 million with the release, so it was not a surprising move.
Alford is officially free and clear to sign with anybody that is interested. Players on an expiring contract do not get to negotiate with new teams until March, but because he was released now, Alford can begin negotiating with all 32 teams.
The San Francisco 49ers have some questions at cornerback, and as soon as Alford was released, people started asking if the team should look into him. He had a miserable 2018 season, with opposing quarterbacks connecting with receivers for 849 yards and a passer rating of 138.9. If you think he hit the post-30 wall, so be it. But if you think he can rebound, he’s on the radar.
The question is how the 49ers should approach the continued building of their cornerback depth chart. You can never have enough cornerbacks in a growing passing league, so I fully expect the team to add at least one cornerback this offseason. Competition is critical, but how would you look to approach it between the draft and free agency?