The San Francisco 49ers made massive changes to their cornerback room this offseason, watching Charvarius Ward, Isaac Yiadom, Rock Ya-Sin and Nick McCloud sign elsewhere in free agency and signing the trio of Tre Brown, Siran Neal and Tre Tomlinson from other teams.
San Francisco also added Upton Stout in the third-round of the 2025 NFL draft as well as Jakob Robinson and Derrick Canteen as undrafted free agents after the seven-round selection meeting.
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However, the 49ers are still looking more help in the secondary, and with intriguing names constantly popping up in trade rumors and on the free-agent market, it shouldn’t be surprising that general manager John Lynch’s staff recently gauged the interest of cornerback Damon Arnette, according to former Dallas Cowboys fullback Darryl Johnston.
“It was a couple of teams that were reaching out on him,” Johnston said (via NBC Sports). “He’s got everything you want, he’s got the length. He’s a former first-round draft pick, so the talent is there. It’s really the maturity. Has he learned from what happened to him, his first opportunity when he was in Vegas?
“So, it was great to see the Houston Texans call, DeMeco Ryans, because John Lynch in San Francisco was another one that called about him. So you can see that he really fits that style of defense that DeMeco wants to install with the Texans, coming from the San Francisco 49ers, because those were probably the two busiest teams that were reaching out on Damon’s behalf.”
Arnette, 28, played collegiately at Ohio State from 2015-19, earning All-Big Ten honors once before the Las Vegas Raiders took him in the first round (No. 19 overall) of the 2020 NFL draft.
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The former Buckeye appeared in just nine games as a rookie due to injuries and then played in four games before being placed on injured reserve in 2021. He was released from injured reserve after he was seen on video making threats with a gun.
Arnette had a short stint with the Miami Dolphins to finish out his second season and signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022, but just days later he was hit with multiple serious charges, including assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of possession of controlled substances. He was released from the team and hasn’t played in an NFL game since.
Earlier this year, Arnette returned to the gridiron playing for the UFL’s Houston Roughnecks, recording 18 tackles, one sack and one interception in six games.
Arnette officially made it back to the NFL in June when he inked a one-year deal with the Houston Texans, but the 49ers were apparently interested before that.
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There are still talented veteran cornerbacks on the market that San Francisco could sign if they’re looking for upgrades, including Jack Jones, Rasul Douglas, Stephon Gilmore and Mike Hilton. At this point in the offseason, all of them should be relatively inexpensive and could play a rotational role at the very least in 2025.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Damon Arnette received interest from 49ers before signing with Texans
