The 49ers plan to release wide receiver Bruce Ellington on Thursday, a league source tells Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (on Twitter).
Ellington, 26 later this month, was a regular for the 49ers in 2014 and 2015. Unfortunately, the former fourth-round pick missed the entire 2016 season when he sustained a severe hamstring injury just prior to the 75-man cutdown.
This year, Ellington was facing something of an uphill battle with Pierre Garcon, Jeremy Kerley, Marquise Goodwin, Aldrick Robinson, and Louis Murphy in the top five receiver spots. With Ellington out of the way, fifth-round pick Trent Taylor and others will have a better chance of making the 53-man roster.
In 2015, Ellington’s last season on the field, he had 19 grabs for 137 yards. He did most of his work on special teams with 26 kick returns for 665 yards, good for an average of 25.6 yards.