Overview

• Brown has opened 2025 behind Jason Pinnock and rookie Marques Sigle, working primarily as the 49ers’ big nickel through two games.
• In Week 2 at New Orleans he played seven defensive snaps, broke up a third-down pass, helped force a fumble, and his nine defensive snaps this season carry PFF grades in the 90s on a very small sample.
• He told the San Francisco Chronicle he considers himself a top-five safety and predicted a return to a starting role.
• Kyle Shanahan said Brown has handled the role change well and earned the hybrid assignment with his practice work.
• Injuries and a drop in last season’s PFF grade (77.9 as a rookie to 64.8) inform his trajectory, and a crowded depth chart with Malik Mustapha expected back makes a pre–Nov. 4 trade a possibility under a contract running through 2026.