The 49ers sign S Johnathan Cyprien

The San Francisco 49ers have signed another safety. ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed that the Niners have inked Johnathan Cyprien to a one-year deal.

Cyprien appeared in five games last season with the Eagles and the Falcons before suffering a season-ending injury. Atlanta traded a draft pick for him, and one game later, Cyprien was lost for the season, and signed with the Eagles in August. The 30-year-old is known as a hard-hitting box safety who excelled against the run, but not much in coverage. He is very similar to Marcell Harris, which begs the question, why now? Is K’Waun Williams’ injury more serious than 2-3 weeks? San Francisco also signed undrafted free agent safety Evan Foster earlier on Wednesday to bolster its secondary depth.

I wonder if this is more of a reflection on the UDFA safeties such as Jared Mayden or Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles being behind the curve as practices start to rev up. The 49ers signed two veteran receivers to replace Travis Benjamin and Jalen Hurd so that the veteran movement could continue with the signing of Cyprien.

Cyprien did not play in 2018, either. He started ten games for the Titans in 2017 and was the Jaguars starting safety from 2013-2017. Cyprein has 71 career starts under his belt. If the Niners prefer experience over youth as they prepare for a Super Bowl run, Cyprien will make sense over a youngster that missed out on a critical offseason.