The San Francisco 49ers have a hole to fill in their secondary with cornerback Charvarius Ward headed for unrestricted free agency.

With internal options scarce, they may turn to the draft and free agency to bolster their cornerback group. The pending release of Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay puts an intriguing veteran option on the table for the 49ers.

Slay is 34 and has 12 NFL seasons under his belt, so it wouldn’t be any kind of long-term deal. However, his age and mileage could diminish his market and make him a bargain for the kind of production San Francisco could get alongside Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green.

While Slay isn’t quite the version of himself that earned a First-Team All-Pro nod in 2017 when he was with the Detroit Lions, he’s still an effective player who helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl last season. Slay, according to Pro Football Focus, hasn’t allowed a passer rating better than 84.2 when targeted over the last four seasons. In that same stretch he has 37 pass breakups and nine interceptions. 16 of those pass breakups came in 2024.

Perhaps the 49ers have their eye on a younger free agent. ESPN predicted they’d sign Asante Samuel Jr., but if San Francisco is looking to go cheaper on a shorter-term contract, Slay makes a ton of sense for a secondary that can use some experience in its starting group.

This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers should sign Super Bowl champion CB discarded by Eagles