The 49ers are heading toward one of the hardest parts of the NFL calendar, trimming a 90-man group down to the final 53. For San Francisco, that process should be pretty straightforward in a few cases. Some players have already done too little, or missed too much time, to justify sticking around.
Isaac Guerendo looks like the clearest casualty. Kyle Shanahan has already been out on him since last season, and after Guerendo sat out training camp and the preseason, there’s not much reason to keep waiting.
Even putting him on Injured Reserve would feel like a waste of a spot, according to the source. Unless the 49ers suddenly need him for special teams, he should be gone.
The bigger point is simple: San Francisco shouldn’t keep hanging onto injury-prone players who haven’t shown enough value.
Nick Martin is in a similar boat, just for different reasons. He hasn’t put together enough positive plays to balance out the mistakes, and the depth chart has passed him by.
Rookie Jaden Dugger has moved ahead of him, and Martin is also behind Garrett Wallow, Tatum Bethune and likely Deion Jones, whom the 49ers recently traded for. At this point, he doesn’t look like someone who will get on the field.
A trade to the Tennessee Titans is floated as a possibility, with Robert Saleh as the one who wanted him in the first place, and the idea is that San Francisco would take a sixth- or seventh-round pick for him now.
Veteran Nate Hobbs is a little different, because the source says he probably will be retained, but it also makes the case that cutting him would be perfectly reasonable. Hobbs has missed most of training camp and all of the preseason because of a groin injury.
That fits the larger concern around him: he’s been injury-prone for years, hasn’t played more than 13 games in a season since 2013, and has also been below average for a while now. If the 49ers moved on, they wouldn’t be losing a dependable nickel behind Upton Stout, and the time he’s missed would only make him more of a target if he had to step in.
The argument is to let him go.
Brayden Willis is the easiest call of the bunch. The 49ers have even started using him away from his natural position, which says plenty about where he stands.
The source frames that shift as a sign that they don’t see him as a special talent with versatility, but rather as a tight end who hasn’t been good enough to hold the job. Against the Las Vegas Raiders, Willis was repeatedly getting beat as a blocker, and the performance was described as little more than cardio.
Since being drafted in 2023, he hasn’t come close to becoming useful, and the time has come to end it.
Christian Kirk rounds out the list, and his situation is all about availability. He took part in the first practice of training camp and then disappeared, with a calf strain keeping him sidelined ever since.
He’s not in his mid-30s, but the source says his injury history is a real concern and suggests his body is already having trouble bouncing back. Even if he returns soon, the lack of practice reps with Brock Purdy and the offense leaves him behind.
The expectation is that the 49ers will probably place him on Injured Reserve, but the recommendation here is to move on altogether.
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