49ers to sign veteran safety Tony Jefferson

Tony Jefferson is back. On Monday, the 49ers agreed to sign the veteran safety, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Jefferson hasn’t played since 2019, when he tore his ACL. Then, the pandemic slowed his rehab, keeping him off the field throughout 2020. Under normal circumstances, Jefferson would have been mostly healed by April.

“I was really getting into a groove with my workouts and my rehab,” Jefferson said in April. “Now, I’m waiting two or three weeks just to get a medicine ball.”

After spending the early part of his career with the Cardinals, Jefferson inked a four-year, $34M contract with the Ravens in 2017. He started in all 35 of his games for Baltimore from 2017-2019, but the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus weren’t fond of his five-game 2019 season. The Ravens released Jefferson in February of 2020, but he wasn’t healthy enough to land a deal elsewhere.

Jefferson will surely play for less than his last contract, but he has an opportunity to restore his stock in San Francisco. If all goes well, the 29-year-old could be the first safety off of the bench behind free safety Jimmie Ward and strong safety Jaquiski Tartt.