Former Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad cornerback Anthony Brown signed today with the San Francisco 49ers’ 53-man roster, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Brown tore his Achilles as a member of the Dallas Cowboys last season, a team he spent seven seasons with after being selected in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He has nine career interceptions and looked to provide nice depth to Pittsburgh’s practice squad. But he was released last Thursday with the team bringing back CB Luq Barcoo and RB Greg Bell to the practice squad.
He visited San Francisco on Saturday, and the team is now adding him to its active roster. He must be far enough along in his injury recovery for San Francisco to be comfortable, and they 49ers are looking for corner help, as they also hosted veteran CB Bradley Roby on a visit yesterday.
With both cornerbacks Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace struggling through the first two weeks of the season, it might have been nice to have Brown as additional practice squad depth. He’s an accomplished NFL player, and had three interceptions two seasons ago to go along with 17 passes defensed. Pittsburgh’s corner depth on the practice squad is suddenly thin, with Josiah Scott going to the practice squad IR. The team did sign former Minnesota Vikings CB Kalon Barnes to the practice squad on Friday.
Brown has a chip on his shoulder, literally, and we’ll see if he can make the most of his opportunity with the 49ers. They have one of the better all-around rosters in football, and maybe adding Brown can help solidify their secondary as they look to make a Super Bowl run under head coach Kyle Shanahan.
