Re-Signing Emmanuel Moseley was One of the 49ers' Best Decisions of the Year

No team drafts and develops late-round picks and undrafted free agents as well as the 49ers.

The 49ers know this. So sometimes they take these players for granted, as if they're replaceable and the 49ers can manufacture more players like them. So the 49ers let these young players they've developped leave during leave free agency, and they go on to flourish elsewhere. Kendrick Bourne is a recent example of this.

Other times, the 49ers recognize how important these no-name players have become, and reward them players with contract extensions and starting jobs. Emmanuel Moseley is a perfect example of this. The 49ers signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2018, and gradually developped him into a solid starting cornerback. This offseason, they could have let him leave in free agency and searched for an upgrade, but they gave him a two-year contract extension, and he has validated their decision by producing his best season yet. 

Moseley is giving up a passer rating of just 70 when targeted this season. He's a quality starter at a premium position.

“I still don't think he's reached his full ceiling," head coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday. "Emmanuel's earned everything he's gotten here. He started the first year just playing on scout team the whole year. Ended up the second year, which I believe was 2019, being our starting corner, playing at a high level. I think he’s played at a very high level this year. I think he'd been up and down last year. He's been up and down this year, just because of his injuries. He started out training camp missing the first 10 days because of COVID. Then he missed a number of days again in training camp after he came back with an injury. It's been up and down throughout this time, so he's just starting to get back, to me, to his level of play before. And now that he's there, the way he's made, the way he works, now I know he'll only get better.”