The 49ers are set to re-sign cornerback Jason Verrett to a one-year contract worth up to $6.5 million. At that rate he could wind up being one of the steals of the offseason.
ESPN’s Field Yates tweeted the details of Verrett’s deal, which aren’t complicated. He’ll earn a $2.5 million in base salary with a $2 million signing bonus. An additional $1 million is available in per-game roster bonuses, and another $1 million is there for Pro Bowl, interception, and playing time incentives.
In all, Verrett’s cap hit will come out to roughly $5.3 million for 2021.
That’s a very manageable number for San Francisco, which needed all the help it could get in keeping cap numbers low with this year’s $182.5 million salary cap. It also could turn out to be the signing of the offseason with a ton of low-risk, high-reward potential.
If Verrett doesn’t play as well in 2021 as he did in 2020, the club will be able to move on without taking a huge hit this year or next. If he does play at a Pro Bowl-caliber level again, he’ll be a tad more expensive because of the incentives, but he still won’t be among the NFL’s highest-paid cornerbacks. As of Monday his $5.3 million cap hit would be the 27th-lowest in the league. That’ll likely dip before it climbs.
San Francisco got a strong year from Verrett when forced to rely on him in 2020. Now they’ll get to rely on him again at a low risk, and if it works, it’ll have a significant impact on their rebuilt secondary.
