49ers sign veteran CB Isaac Yiadom to a one-year contract
Yiadom is coming off an impressive season
Per his agent, the San Francisco 49ers are signing cornerback Isaac Yiadom to a one-year deal:
Statistically, Yiadom had impressive numbers last season. He was third in the NFL in “tight window rate,” per Next Gen Stats. Yiadom allowed a 38.5 percent completion percentage on 39 targets for only 5.1 yards per target. He gave up 15 completions compared to 16 pass breakups.
A season ago, he was predominantly an outside cornerback for the New Orleans Saints. This would suggest the team wants Deommodore Lenoir to play exclusively inside and ensures there isn’t a situation where Ambry Thomas steps onto the field.
Thomas, Darrell Luter Jr., and Yiadom are the cornerbacks competing for a spot along with Samuel Womack. This is a signing that doesn’t force the team to invest in a cornerback early in the NFL Draft, either.
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Yiadom played 50 percent of the snaps last season for New Orleans. He played 55 percent of his snaps in man coverage and shadowed receivers half the time as well. Production-wise, he was among the top 20 cornerbacks in receptions and yards allowed last season. He was fifth in man coverage success rate.
This could turn out to be a sneaky good signing for the 49ers, as Yiadom also played 267 snaps on special teams last year for the Saints.