49ers: San Francisco brings back key member of secondary

Veteran cornerback Dontae Johnson signed a new contract with the 49ers on Friday, keeping him in San Francisco after years adrift.

The San Francisco 49ers aren’t done with Dontae Johnson just yet.

The team confirmed Johnson’s re-signing on Friday, bringing the 29-year-old back as a special teams contributor and reserve defensive back.

As Matt Barrows of The Athletic explained on Twitter, he’s a cost-effective option who can give the 49ers defense some cover in the secondary if needed. He did just that in 2020.

Johnson will be on a one-year deal, which will make 2021 his seventh season in San Francisco.

Dontae Johnson has had a winding career back to the 49ers

The six previous years with the franchise were far from consecutive. The 49ers picked Johnson out of North Carolina State in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played four seasons with 22 starts in 63 appearances.

In 2018, he signed with the Seahawks as a free agent, but an injury landed him on injured reserve and he was released. He spent a month with the Bills, playing in one game before being released again. The Cardinals picked him up next but waived him soon after.

The odyssey didn’t end there. The Chiefs signed him in 2019 only to drop I’m that offseason. The 49ers swooped in to sign him and he appeared in a preseason game but didn’t make the final roster.

Johnson had a brief stint with the Chargers that September. He appeared in two games then was cut again. San Francisco signed him, then cut him, then signed him again. He played seven games before the season was up and got a new one-year deal for 2020.

We’re not done yet. Johnson started the 2020 campaign on the practice squad. He was called up in September ended up seeing 14 games of action with three starts as a slot corner. It was his most active season since 2017.