Malik Mustapha’s recuperation from the ACL tear he sustained in the season’s last game is doing well. In an attempt to get back on the field, the 49ers safety recently shared a video of himself working out, indicating that he is ahead of schedule.
The 49ers’ decision to forego reentering the veteran safety market thus far, which still includes players like Jordan Whitehead, Julian Blackmon, and Justin Simmons—all of whom played for defensive coordinator Robert Saleh in New York—is all the more intriguing given that Mustapha is anticipated to miss the start of the 2025 season.
There are a lot of safeties on the 49ers. San Francisco’s depth chart also includes rookie fifth-round pick Marques Sigle, Jason Pinnock, Richie Grant, special teamer George Odum, and Jaylen Mahoney in addition to Mustapha and 2023 third-round pick Ji’Ayir Brown.
At safety, however, the 49ers have depth. The idea that they are strong in depth is questionable. If both Brown and Mustapha are healthy, they would be the likely starters, but none of the other candidates seem very confident.
When Odum made a brief start for the 49ers at the start of last season, he showed himself to be incredibly vulnerable in coverage, and only Pinnock and Grant have anything approaching substantial starting experience.
However, after losing Pinnock to the Giants in 2022 after drafting him for the Jets in 2021, Saleh seems to have a lot of faith in the player. The Jets failed to get Pinnock onto the practice squad and released him as part of their final roster cuts.
Saleh’s confidence in Pinnock’s ability to step in for Mustapha will probably be bolstered by the 49ers’ schedule in the first few weeks of the season and the apparent short amount of time he will have to do so.
Mustapha is most likely to be placed on the PUP list at the beginning of the season, which would prevent him from playing in the first four games. The 49ers go on Sam Darnold’s Seattle Seahawks attack in Week 1. Last season, Darold was successful in the Minnesota Vikings’ Week 2 victory over the 49ers, but if the defensive line can win its games up front, San Francisco will be confident in limiting his impact.
The 49ers then face a New Orleans Saints offense set to be quarterbacked by Tyler Shough, before meeting the Arizona Cardinals and Jacksonville Jaguars. Both the Cardinals and Jags have extremely talented quarterbacks and some imposing offensive weapons, but neither attack could be considered a juggernaut last season.
Since the 49ers have a good chance of surviving the first four games without Mustapha by depending on a deputy that Saleh knows well, there may be a school of thought that believes there is little use in adding another veteran safety who will probably want to start the entire season.
Another safety signing might have been more feasible if Mustapha had been facing a longer layoff. But with Mustapha apparently on the verge of making a comeback, the 49ers will likely be happy to start the season with Pinnock.
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