49ers Rumors: Dre Kirkpatrick to Work Out for SF; Has Visited with Patriots, Saints
July 29, 2021
Veteran cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick will work out for the San Francisco 49ers on Friday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Rapoport and NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill reported the free agent also visited the New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots earlier this offseason, but he did not leave either with a deal.
Kirkpatrick appeared in 14 games (11 starts) for the Arizona Cardinals last season, totaling 56 tackles with three interceptions and seven passes defended. He spent his eight years in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals and developed into a key part of their defense, starting 62 of the 64 games he played from 2015 to 2019.
The 31-year-old allowed just an 80.1 quarterback rating and two touchdowns in coverage last season, per Pro Football Reference.
An experienced player could be valuable in the 49ers secondary with the unit extremely thin at the moment:
Cam Inman @CamInmanThis audition of vet Dre Kirkpatrick makes sense. Emmanuel Moseley on Covid list. Tim Harris Jr was starting LCB in first camp practice (mixed results). Dontae Johnson gave up long catch to Deebo. Still want to see more of rookie draft picks Thomas, Lenoir <a href="https://t.co/WgJt3udHLk">https://t.co/WgJt3udHLk</a>
The team is also without contributors from last season like Richard Sherman and Ahkello Witherspoon.
Tim Harris was a sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft but he only appeared on special teams last season. Even with the team at full strength, there are significant question marks at cornerback outside of Jason Verrett.
Even after San Francisco ranked fourth in the NFL against the pass last season, more upgrades could be needed to keep pace in the difficult NFC West with two games each against Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford and Kyler Murray.