*** 2024-25 Depth Chart, 53-Man Roster, & TC Battles***

Originally posted by NYniner85:

The #49ers are releasing veteran running back Matt Breida, per @JFowlerESPN pic.twitter.com/txLhnh5txZ

— WayneBreezie (@thewaynebreezie) August 26, 2024

Could he have been traded? Seeing a lot of RBs injured.

Originally posted by Alfienator:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

The #49ers are releasing veteran running back Matt Breida, per @JFowlerESPN pic.twitter.com/txLhnh5txZ

— WayneBreezie (@thewaynebreezie) August 26, 2024

Could he have been traded? Seeing a lot of RBs injured.

This ain't Madden bro. There's going to be a lot of RBs on the waiver wire

Originally posted by Youngone:

Originally posted by Alfienator:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

The #49ers are releasing veteran running back Matt Breida, per @JFowlerESPN pic.twitter.com/txLhnh5txZ

— WayneBreezie (@thewaynebreezie) August 26, 2024

Could he have been traded? Seeing a lot of RBs injured.

This ain't Madden bro. There's going to be a lot of RBs on the waiver wire

Which means they like the young one the drafted. Guerendo earned a spot on that fast kickoff return alone. They see how he can be useful.

RB: (4) CMC, Mason, Guerendo, Gore Jr (when the Bills cut him)

Hey, I can dream, right?

Originally posted by GNS1310:
RB: (4) CMC, Mason, Guerendo, Gore Jr (when the Bills cut him)

Hey, I can dream, right?

I guess it is that time of year again....

Originally posted by Alfienator:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

The #49ers are releasing veteran running back Matt Breida, per @JFowlerESPN pic.twitter.com/txLhnh5txZ

— WayneBreezie (@thewaynebreezie) August 26, 2024

Could he have been traded? Seeing a lot of RBs injured.

Dude was on the street like two weeks ago. No one is trading for that

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Which means they like the young one the drafted. Guerendo earned a spot on that fast kickoff return alone. They see how he can be useful.

Breida was never making the 53 man roster. He could be a vet guy they stash on the PS.

Originally posted by Alfienator:
Could he have been traded? Seeing a lot of RBs injured.

He was a FA three weeks ago when he was signed as a camp body. Zero chance.

Originally posted by NYniner85:

The #49ers have released RB Ke'Shawn Vaughn and waived P Pressley Harvin III and OL Lewis Kidd pic.twitter.com/4exAhqV1XY

— 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙎𝙁𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 (@TheSFNiners) August 26, 2024

Harvin should end up on a roster.

Originally posted by Hysterikal:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

The #49ers have released RB Ke'Shawn Vaughn and waived P Pressley Harvin III and OL Lewis Kidd pic.twitter.com/4exAhqV1XY

— 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙎𝙁𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 (@TheSFNiners) August 26, 2024

Harvin should end up on a roster.

I hope, he had some nice punts

Originally posted by Howlett49:

Originally posted by 1849er:
Here's my take ...

Roster Exemptions
The 49ers will be able to keep the following players as roster exemptions:
Reserve/Did not report list: (1)
T. Williams

They did the same thing with Nick Bosa last year. I did wonder whether they might do this with Brandon Aiyuk - which would explain why the 49ers haven't sealed the deal with him yet but I don't think Aiyuk is be eligible for a roster exemption because he has reported and is 'holding-in.'

PUP: (2)
D. Greenlaw, T. Hufanga

As I understand it teams can put 2 players on IR prior to cutdown that will be eligible to return this season. Therefore -
IR: (2)
K. Davis, J. Feliciano

Initial 53-man roster:

Offense - 26
QB: (3)
B. Purdy, J. Dobbs, B. Allen

FB: (1)
K. Juszczyk

RB: (4)
C. McCaffrey, J. Mason, E. Mitchell, I. Guerendo

TE: (4)
G. Kittle, E. Saubert, B. Wills, C. Latu

WR: (6)
B. Aiyuk, D. Samuel, J. Jennings, J. Cowing, R. Pearsall, C. Conley

There's a chance the 49ers will agree to re-sign Chris Conley as a vested veteran (i.e. he doesn't hit waivers and so the 49ers can cut him safe in the knowledge that they have already agreed they will resign him). If this is the case the will keep Ronnie Bell instead of Conley and then immediately resign Conley once they have made some post cutdown moves to put someone on IR.

OL: (8)
J. Moore, A. Banks, J. Brendel, D. Puni, C. McKivitz, J. Kingston, N. Zakelj, S. Burford

Defense: 24
DL: (8)
N.Bosa, M. Collins, J. Hargrave, Y. Gross-Matos, L. Floyd, J. Elliot, K. Givens, R. Beal

LB: (6)
F. Warner, D. Campbell, D. Winters, D. Flannigan-Fowles, J. Graham, C. Robinson

This is the most difficult decision. I genuinely think the 49ers might keep Tatum Bethune as well and so keep 7 LBs. I believe this because I think LBs will be really important on kick-offs this season. However, most likely they will probably try to trade someone and I think Curtis Robinson would be the most likely to be traded and so they would keep Bethune. That said, I've based the above on the assumption no trade takes place - in which case Bethune just misses out.
If the 49ers don't keep 7 LBs then I think they will keep 7 CBs.

CB: (7)
C. Ward, D. Lenoir, I. Yiadom, R. Green, D. Luter Jr, R. Ya-Sin, S.Womack III

I think the 49ers will keep these 7 CBs because I think they may immediately move Yiadom to IR. I also think they will keep 7 CBs because they will only keep 3 Safeties initially.

S: (3)
J. Brown, G. Odum, M. Mustapha

Special Teams: 3
K: (1)
J. Moody

P: (1)
M. Wishnowsky

LS: (1)
T. Pepper

Post cutdown roster moves
Immediately after the roster cutdown the 49ers will look to move a number of players to IR to accommodate signing Trent Williams and (hopefully) so they can sign (or potentially trade for) some DL help.

I'm sure there will be at least one player moved to IR that we (as fans) didn't know was injured. But based on what we do know at present here are my most likely candidates to be moved to IR post the roster cutdown:
Ricky Pearsall - Whilst it will be disappointing, I'm certain Brandon Aiyuk will resign and so combined with the promise showed by Jacob Cowing the 49ers are loaded at WR and so can afford to take their time with Pearsall.
Isaac Yiadom - As I said earlier I think the 49ers will keep 7 CBs because they will move Yiadom to IR.
Elijah Mitchell - I think Jordan Mason has established himself as RB2 and Isaac Guerendo will play a role on Special Teams. Therefore, Mitchell may not suit up on game days initially. Hence I think the 49ers might look to stash him on IR at the start of the season because technically he is injured at present.

I like your takes and agree on a lot of this. My main takeaway is that Trent Williams is still under contract and therefore he needs to be on the initial 53. Unless I'm wrong and that roster exemption you mentioned at the beginning plays to the Niners favor on the initial 53.

Thanks Howlett49. Seems like I was correct about Trent Williams not counting against the 53 whilst on the reserve/did not report list - as I see that the Webzone cuts tracker page has confirmed this.

I think the whole Trent Williams holdout is a complete facade. I think the 49ers met with Trent's representatives early in the offseason and agreed to restructure Trent's contract. But as part of the agreement I think the 49ers requested Trent not report until after the cutdown (agreeing that they would see him right financially in respect of the fines he would incur). Why? Because the 49ers would have kept Trent in bubble-wrap anyway - he would have had many veteran days off and would not have played a down in preseason. The 49ers know they can trust Trent to be ready week 1. In return, Trent gets to stay home a little longer and stay fresh and healthy. And the 49ers effectively get an extra roster spot at cutdown. How valuable is that extra roster spot? Specifically, that extra roster spot could be the difference between being able to keep Jarret Kingston or having to cut him and lose him on waivers. I reckon the 49ers believe paying Trent the extra money he is seeking but having him not report until after cutdown is worth it if they are able to keep a promising young player they might otherwise have lost. The 49ers will move someone to IR after cutdown (probably Dee Winters now - as he was a surprise on the injury report yesterday and needs an MRI). Then after that the 49ers will sign Trent and move him to the active roster. My prediction is that Trent is at practice Thursday/Friday this week.

I think the reason there is suddenly so much attention in the media about the 49ers not having signed Trent is all part of the hoodwinking the 49ers are carrying out. They want to ensure that it seems like this is a genuine holdout and they are doing their utmost to sign him.

I've believed this to be the case all summer but what has made me really suspicious is that respected 49ers beat writers like Matt Maiocco, David Lombardi and alike have all included Trent Williams in their 53-man roster predictions. They know the cutdown rules, and they know it makes no sense for the 49ers to sign Trent Williams to the active roster on the eve of cutdown. Why would the 49ers do that now and forgo the roster exemption? Smells fishy to me. I think Maiocco and Lombardi know what the 49ers are up to but dare not draw attention to it. Either that or they don't know the rules and so we need some better informed beat writers.

Lastly, one slight change to my 53-man prediction. If the Dee Winters injury is significant and means he will miss multiple weeks then I think the 49ers will keep 7 LBs and so keep Tatum Bethune as well because they will look to move Winters to IR post cutdown. This means Samuel Womack will be cut instead of Bethune.

Originally posted by NYniner85:

The #49ers are releasing veteran running back Matt Breida, per @JFowlerESPN pic.twitter.com/txLhnh5txZ

— WayneBreezie (@thewaynebreezie) August 26, 2024

He still looked quick... so maybe he sticks around in the Bay Area.

Well this sucks, the NFLPA vetoed the emergency 3rd QB rule for practice squaders, so the 49ers will definitely be keeping 3 QBs on the 53, so below is my final projection.

QB(3): Purdy, Dobbs, & Allen
RB(4): CMC, Mason, Mitchell, & Guerendo
FB(1): Juice
WR(5): Aiyuk, Deebo, Jauan, Pearsall, & Cowing
TE(4): Kittle, Saubert, Willis, & Latu
OL(9): Trent, Banks, Brendel, Puni, McKivitz, Zakelj, Kingston, Burford & Moore
EDGE(4): Bosa, Floyd, Gross-Matos, & Beal
IDL(4): Collins, Hargrave, Givens, & Elliott
LB(6): Warner, Campbell, DFF, Winters, Graham, & Bethune
CB(7): Ward, Lenoir, Yiadom, Green, Ya-Sin, Luter & Womack
S(3): Brown, Odum, & Mustapha
ST(3): Moody, Wish, & Pepper

PUP: DE Jackson, LB Greenlaw, & SS Hufanga

Jackson may have to sit out the 2024 season, but not 100% sure, while Dre & Huf would have to miss first 4 games

IR: IOL Feliciano*, NT Davis*, CB Thomas*, & FS Hawkins

Asterisk means players on short term IR, and must miss first 4 games.

PS: RB Schrader, WR Martin, WR Conley*, WR Bell, TE Tonges, C Nugent, C Bartch*, LT Alarcon**, RT Hubbard*, DE Barrett, DE Okuayinonu, DT McGill*, NT Anderson, LB Robinson*, CB Lucas, FS Mahoney, SS Walker*

1 Asterisk means he's one of the 6 players with 3 or more accrued years allowed on the PS, and 2 Asterisk's means Alarcon is apart of the International Pathway Program, thus he doesn't count against the 16-man PS limit, nor can he play in a game, and doesn't count against the cap.

Cuts: QB Mordecai, RB Taylor, WR Taylor, WR Chosen, WR Gray, TE Pline, TE Thomas, LT Gutierrez, RT Parker, DE Garvin, DT Brown, & NT Williams.

Of the above, RB Taylor, WR Taylor, WR Chosen, TE Thomas, RT Parker, DE Garvin, & NT Williams would count as one of the 6 players allowed on the PS with 3 or more accrued seasons.

Already Cut: RB Breida, RB Vaughn, WR Kirklin, LG Kidd, & P Pressley

RB Breida, RB Vaughn, & P Pressley would also count against the 6 players allowed on the PS with 3 or more accrued seasons.

Potential Reserve/Did Not Report if they don't sign new deals would be Brandon Aiyuk & Trent Williams, meaning I'd keep WR Conley, & RT Hubbard on the 53 to begin 2024, also I'd look into acquiring another EDGE, either a veteran, or a young player with some or a lot of upside.

I decided to not go over the salary cap aspect, as it's not really worth it as cuts need to be made by 1pm pacific/4pm easter time tomorrow.