Cole Wick

49ers Sign QB Tom Savage

The 49ers have signed quarterback Tom Savage, per a club announcement. To make room, tight end Cole Wick has been released. 

The Niners have been seeking a third quarterback since losing Jimmy Garoppolo in September. They finally have one in Savage, though he’s a long way from seeing the field. For now, Savage is penciled in as the third-string signal caller behind C.J. Beathard and Nick Mullens.

Savage was part of a QB contingent that worked out for the 49ers late last month, auditioning alongside Landry JonesEJ ManuelKellen ClemensT.J. YatesMatt Simms, and Kyle Allen. Weeks later, he has landed a deal from SF.

Savage inked a one-year, $1.5MM deal with the Saints earlier this year, and appeared to be the favorite to serve as Drew Brees‘ top backup, but he was cut after Teddy Bridgewater was acquired via trade. A fourth-round pick in 2014, Savage appeared in 13 games and made nine starts over four seasons with the Texans.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/2/18

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2018 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

  • WR Jake Kumerow
  • WR Colby Pearson
  • TE Robert Tonyan
  • LS Zach Triner
  • WR DeAngelo Yancey

Read more

NFL Workout Updates: 10/18/17

Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter:

Atlanta Falcons

  • DE Ricky Ali’ifua; TE Anthony Firkser; DT Nigel Williams, FB Malcolm Johnson; LB Kevin Snyder (link)

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

  • CB Josh Thornton; RB Marquez Williams (link)

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

  • S Malik Smith (link)

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

  • T Storm Norton (link)

49ers Work Out Datone Jones, Jayrone Elliott

Datone Jones‘ workout tour continued this week when the former Packers cog auditioned for the 49ers, Howard Balzer of SportsOnEarth reports (on Twitter).

The fifth-year defensive lineman has also worked out for the Bears, Lions, Patriots and Jets since the Vikings cut him from their IR list in September.

Interestingly, the 49ers also worked out ex-Packer edge defender Jayrone Elliott, per Balzer. Jones left the Packers in free agency, but Elliott became expendable after the Packers agreed to a deal with 49ers castoff Ahmad Brooks. Green Bay’s also using ex-San Francisco defensive lineman Quinton Dial as a rotational piece this season.

Elliott was Jones’ teammate for three seasons with the Packers, but he couldn’t stick as a second-unit pass rusher before being traded to the Cowboys. Dallas subsequently waived the fourth-year player later last month, and Elliott worked out for the Saints, Seahawks and Jets before voyaging to the Bay Area for his latest audition.

The 49ers also worked out tight ends Cole Wick and Standish Dobard, along with cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olumu. Additionally, Balzer reports (on Twitter) safeties Antone Exum, Chris Prosinski and Deron Washington worked out for the Niners.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/6/17

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Atlanta Falcons

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Kansas City Chiefs

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC North

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC North teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Bears, Lions, Packers, and Vikings are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s NFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

Lions Set 53-Man Roster

The Lions have met the NFL’s 53-man maximum requirement by making the following transactions:

Traded:

Released:

Waived:

Suspended:

Placed on non-football injury list:

Placed physically unable to perform list:

North Notes: Peterson, T. Taylor, Steelers

We learned yesterday that at least a few GMs are concerned about how much Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has left and whether or not he’d be willing to accept a contract commensurate with a running back on the downside of his career. The Giants are one team that Peterson has indicated he would like to play for if he does not remain in Minnesota, but as Paul Schwartz of the New York Post writes, Big Blue has expressed no interest in acquiring the former league MVP (although the Giants have not indicated that they are uninterested either, Peterson just does not appear to fit from a schematic standpoint). Of course, the more teams that drop out of the Peterson race, or decline to enter the race at all, the more likely it is that he will stay with the Vikings on a lesser salary.

Now for more notes from the league’s north divisions:

  • Speaking of Peterson, Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune lays out a list of teams that the long-time Vikings star is most likely to play for next season, and the Buccaneers are at the top of the list.
  • The Lions signed tight end Cole Wick as a UDFA last offseason, and he managed to stick on the team’s 53-man roster, catching two passes in sporadic playing time over six regular-season games before spending the final two months on IR. But as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes, Wick could find himself with a more significant role in 2017, as he and Eric Ebron are the only tight ends under contract who played a down for Detroit last year.
  • The Bears are expected to hire Derius Swinton as the club’s assistant special teams coach, as Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Swinton previously served in that capacity with Chicago in 2015 but became the 49ers’ special teams coordinator last season.
  • Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that the chances of the Browns‘ acquiring Tyrod Taylor increased when the club hired his former Bills quarterbacks coach, David Lee, two weeks ago. However, Cabot believes Cleveland would still prefer to swing a trade for Patriots backup signal-caller Jimmy Garoppolo. If they cannot land Garoppolo, the Browns will look to Taylor, Mike Glennon, etc., but even if they acquire one of those players, Cabot believes the team should still draft UNC’s Mitch Trubisky with the No. 1 overall selection.
  • The Steelers have a lot of question marks at the wide receiver position beyond Antonio Brown, as Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. Indeed, Martavis Bryant needs to be reinstated by the league following his season-long suspension, Markus Wheaton will probably be let go in free agency, and Sammie Coates was dogged by injuries to his finger and groin and could be facing knee surgery. As such, Dulac believes the team could spend at least one early-round selection on a wideout. John Ross and JuJu Smith-Schuster are two prospects who could be available when the Steelers are on the clock for the first time.