After their moves to get down to 53 on their roster, the 49ers were temporarily without a punter. Thomas Morstead is back in the fold today, however. 
Morstead was re-signed on Wednesday, per a team announcement. The move means he will be able to handle punting duties at the start of the campaign. In a corresponding move, San Francisco’s receiver depth has been dealt another blow. Jacob Cowing is now on injured reserve.
Morstead is entering his 17th NFL season but his first in the Bay Area. The former Saint, Dolphin, Falcon and Jet was released shortly after the draft this spring. He quickly managed to line up a new deal, signing with the 49ers. Morstead took a one-year pact to head to San Francisco, and that will no doubt be the case again on his post-release contract with the team.
Cowing is set to miss at least the first month of the season. The 2024 fourth-rounder was not a factor on offense despite playing 15 games as a rookie, but he entered the summer as a candidate for an increased workload. Instead, Cowing’s second NFL campaign will be delayed at the start. This news adds further to the lack of availability at the receiver position the 49ers are currently dealing with.
Brandon Aiyuk will be sidelined through at least September, while Demarcus Robinson will start the campaign by serving his three-game DUI suspension. San Francisco has been busy adding wideouts with those looming absences in mind, and any more moves will now come with the knowledge Cowing will be unavailable early on.
This has happened before with Morstead. A couple of years ago with the Jets, he had to wait for a couple of procedural roster moves involving injury status before he could be placed back on the 53-man roster.