49ers agreed to a contract on Saturday Versatile Defensive Back Miles Hartsfield According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Media.
Hartfield was originally signed by the Panthers as an undrafted free agent following the 2020 NFL Draft. He played in all 16 games for Carolina as a rookie, with most of his contributions coming on special teams. By his sophomore year he had taken on a bigger defensive role, where he played all over the field for Carolina. He carried that work into the 2021 and 2022 seasons as a free safety and nickel corner, where he started 19 of the 25 games he played.
The Panthers did not offer Hartsfield a restricted free agent tender and allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent. He returned with 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilkes, who had been the Panthers’ interim head coach the previous season.
Hartsfield gives the 49ers some much-needed depth at safety, but he could do a variety of jobs on San Francisco’s defense, with Tashaun Gipson and Talanoa Hufanga working the two safety spots. There is a chance that the 49ers will further bolster Hartsfield in the slot corner competition with fellow free agent signing CB Isaiah Oliver and second-year CB Samuel Womack.
In 41 games with 19 starts, Hartsfield had 118 tackles, five tackles for loss, 1.0 sacks, seven pass breakups and a forced fumble.
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