1:06pm: The 49ers have officially released Cook, the team announced today in a press release. the move opens up a spot on the San Francisco roster.
10:54am: The 49ers have informed veteran cornerback Chris Cook that he is being released by the team, tweets Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle first reported (via Twitter) that San Francisco would be cutting Cook.
A hamstring injury limited Cook to just six games for San Francisco in 2014, his first season with the team. However, the Niners saw enough from Cook in his limited playing time that they re-signed him to a one-year deal in March, and with Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox no longer in the mix for the club, it appeared that the former Viking might take on a larger role.
Instead, Cook will immediately become a free agent without having to pass through waivers once his release becomes official. The former 34th overall pick signed a deal that included $800K in guaranteed money, so his release comes as a bit of a surprise, since it doesn’t create any real cap savings for the Niners.
With Tramaine Brock and Shareece Wright projected to be the 49ers’ starters on the outside, and Cook no longer in the picture, Dontae Johnson, Leon McFadden, and Marcus Cromartie are the top candidates to see increased playing time in 2015.
Not really sure what the 49ers are doing anymore. How do you hand a guy $800K guaranteed and release him just days into camp? Sure it’s a sunk cost now, but in what world is Chris Cook worth that much to begin with?
I had to triple-check the numbers when writing up this post to make sure they really guaranteed him $800K. I guess I missed that one during the flurry of signings in March. What could they have possibly seen during his limited action last year that prompted them to go from a minimum salary, non-guaranteed deal in 2014 to an $800K guarantee this year? Really bizarre.