As the San Francisco 49ers gear up for their tenth NFL season under head coach Kyle Shanahan, three-time Pro Bowler Donte Whitner isn’t holding back on what he sees as a concern on his former team’s final roster. Donte Whitner, the ex-Pro Bowl safety who anchored San Francisco’s secondary during the Jim Harbaugh era, sat down with longtime Bay Area radio and TV analyst Rod Brooks on The Grit Code podcast to break down the 49ers squad heading into the season.

When the conversation turned to the safety room, Whitner made clear he’s far from convinced by what the team has at the safety depth, pointing out that the roster is down to just three safeties.

“All three of the safeties that are on the roster right now. I can play number two. I can cover the tight end. I can blitz. You know, I can come in on third down, get everybody lined up. I can do a way better job than what they’re doing out there right now.

The 49ers are set to open their season with a trip to Australia to face the Los Angeles Rams, where Aaron Donald is coming out of his retirement to rejoin the Rams defensive front alongside Myles Garrett.

For Whitner, watching a thin unit consisting of Ji’Ayir Brown, Malik Mustapha, and Marques Sigle prepare for that kind of test was enough to make him say he could do the job better himself.

“They can’t do much if they don’t have any help up front. If they don’t have consistent pressure, and I’ve been telling y’all that the safety room worries me. Now you’re telling me going into the season with three: Ji’Ayir Brown, Malik Mustapha, Marques Sigle, that’s it.

“One injury changes the entire structure of your defense. Now you’re moving corners around. You’re changing sub packages. You’re asking special teams guys to play real defensive snaps. So either another move is coming, or the 49ers have way more confidence in this room than I do.”

Whitner’s concern isn’t just the noise. Brown, who appeared in 17 games last season, comes with a history of lingering injuries. Last season, Brown suffered a hamstring injury during their wild-card playoff win against the Philadelphia Eagles and missed the divisional round against the Seattle Seahawks.

Brown had plenty of time to recover during the off-season, but the concern remains.

Meanwhile, Malik Mustapha is currently dealing with a hamstring strain that he sustained during a practice in late July 2026. Sigle also suffered a minor oblique injury during a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans, but remains fit to play.

Mustapha also took a cleat to the right knee against the Arizona Cardinals in January 2025, following which an MRI revealed that he had torn the graft from a 2022 ACL surgery. The safety started his 2025 season on the PUP list and made a return to the gridiron in Week 6.

If any injury occurs, the 49ers’ defense could collapse, and they might need to shift players within the roster or sign a free agent to fill the depth.

“Yeah, but all jokes aside, they need to figure out that safety room because Matthew Stafford and that Los Angeles Rams offense are quickly approaching.

Under Shanahan’s leadership, the 49ers appear content to roll with Brown, Mustapha and Sigle as their only true answers at safety. Either way, the 49ers don’t have to wait long to find out if the alarm Whitner is sounding was overblown or right on time.