On paper, the San Francisco 49ers’ primary response to All-Pro cornerback Charvarius Ward departing via free agency during the offseason was to grab rookie corner Upton Stout on day two of the 2025 NFL Draft, a move that’d allow the Niners to move fellow cornerback Deommodore Lenoir to a full-time boundary role alongside second-year pro Renardo Green.
However, San Francisco free-agent pickup of former Seattle Seahawks defensive back Tre Brown quietly went unnoticed.
Brown, who’ll turn 28 years old early this season, might’ve been seen as a mere training camp body, someone to push the other defensive backs further along in offseason competition.
However, after mandatory minicamp, it’s becoming clearer Brown might assume more than that.
Having spent the last four years with the Hawks after being selected in Round 4 of the 2021 draft, the 5-foot-10 corner out of Oklahoma seems to have ascended the 49ers’ depth chart, primarily getting second-team reps during mandatory minicamp. While these practices lack the intensity and seriousness of training camp, seeing Brown line up with the group that’ll likely secure a spot on the 53-man roster is a good sign for his own roster chances.
Tre Brown has great shot to occupy key spot on 49ers depth chart
The Niners want nothing more than Stout to seize the starting nickel job, while Lenoir and Green hold down the starting boundary positions.
After those three, though, the competition for the backup posts are fully up for grabs.
Having played 39 regular-season games, starting 13 of them, Brown boasts plenty of experience and also doubles on special teams, which bodes well for his usefulness. And if San Francisco gets anything close to Brown’s 2023 efforts, a season in which he boasted two interceptions and held opposing quarterbacks to a sub-100.0 passer rating when targeting him, it’d be an even bigger bonus.
There’s another pretty good indicator the 49ers are envisioning Brown making the 53-man roster as a key backup, too.
According to Over the Cap, the defensive back carries a $500,000 guarantee on his one-year deal signed this offseason, which is worth up to $1.7 million. That’s a significant amount of guaranteed money for a player brought in merely as a camp body.
Granted, Brown is still on the fringes of the roster. Yet the early indications are he’ll be a top candidate to secure one of the primary reserve roles within the secondary this season.
Provided he continues to maintain that level of prowess throughout training camp and into the preseason.
