49ers Sign DE Cameron Sample
The 49ers have added some depth to their defensive line. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that the team has signed Cameron Sample. It will be a one-year deal for the defensive end.
A 2021 fourth-round pick out of Tulane, Sample saw a consistent defensive role during his time with the Bengals. He missed only four games through his first three seasons in Cincinnati, where he got into more than one third of his team’s defensive snaps while compiling five total sacks and 20 total QB hits.
His 2024 campaign was completely wiped out by a torn Achilles tendon. He re-signed with the Bengals last offseason and managed to make 14 appearances in his comeback season, tallying 17 tackles, a pair of sacks, and one forced fumble. However, he got into a career-low 26 percent of his team’s defensive snaps, and had he earned enough reps to qualify, he would have ranked in the bottom-20 of Pro Football Focus’ ranking of the league’s edge defenders.
The 49ers needed some extra DE depth last season, as both Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams were lost with torn ACLs. That duo should be back in the lineup at some point early in the 2026 campaign, but Sample will be among the grouping to soak up any leftover snaps. At the moment, the free agent addition will be competing with the likes of Sam Okuayinonu (who led the position grouping in snaps in 2025), Keion White, William Bradley-King, and Andrew Farmer.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/12/25
Here are the minor moves from the first day of the 2025 league year:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: CB Mike Ford, OL Kyle Hinton, DL Ta’Quon Graham, OL Elijah Wilkinson, LB Josh Woods
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: LB Jake Hummel, WR Tylan Wallace
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: WR Dan Chisena
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: DE Cameron Sample
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: LB Jack Sanborn
Detroit Lions
- Signed: RB Craig Reynolds, LB Grant Stuard
Houston Texans
- Signed: DE Casey Toohill
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: DT Neville Gallimore, OL Danny Pinter
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: DB Tavierre Thomas
New England Patriots
- Signed: S Jaylinn Hawkins
New York Giants
- Signed: WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette
New York Jets
- Signed: DE Rashad Weaver
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: LB Ben VanSumeren
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: CB Tre Brown
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: QB Kyle Trask
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: OL Blake Hance
Washington Commanders
- Signed: CB Kevon Seymour
Yes, a few of these players have graduated from our minor-moves sector, but today’s signing blitz being what it was, they land here. Ford highlights the batch contractually, agreeing (per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter) to a two-year, $4MM deal. Ford played on more than 70% of Cleveland’s special teams snaps over the past two seasons.
Trask will reprise his role as Baker Mayfield‘s backup, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport indicating the former second-round pick is staying on a one-year, $2.79MM contract. Trask and Mayfield competed for the job in 2023, but as was the case with the Drew Lock–Geno Smith battle a year prior, the winner never looked back. Trask will be in place for a fifth Bucs season, having moved from third-stringer during the Tom Brady era to QB2 in the Mayfield years.
Hawkins will stay with the Patriots on a two-year deal worth up to $2.2MM, according to the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed. A 2022 full-time Falcons starter, Hawkins saw Jessie Bates replace him in 2023. The Falcons later waived Hawkins, who ended up on the Chargers in 2023. The Pats used him as a seven-game starter in 2024, when he made 48 tackles (three for loss).
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/7/24
Wednesday’s minor moves:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: DE Andre Carter, DE Joshua Pryor
- Placed on IR: DE Cameron Sample (story)
- Waived: P Austin McNamara, WR Tre Mosley
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: DE Brevin Allen, K Alex Hale
- Waived (with injury designation): CB Don Callis, WR Rory Starkey
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: C Ryan Coll
- Placed on IR: C Wesley French
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: WR Mike Harley Jr.
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: OL Mark Evans II
- Waived: TE Mason Fairchild
New York Jets
- Signed: RB Deon Jackson
- Waived: WR Hamze El-Zayat
Philadelphia Eagles
- Claimed off waivers (from Commanders): TE Armani Rogers
- Waived: WR Shaq Davis
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: LB Easton Gibbs
- Waived (with injury designation): LB Tyler Murray
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: WR Jontre Kirklin, RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn
- Waived (with injury designation): WR Terique Owens
- Released: S Erik Harris
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: DT Kyon Barrs
- Reverted to IR: LB Josh Onujiogu
- Waived (with an injury designation): WR Marcus Simms
Washington Commanders
- Signed: T Alex Taylor-Prioleau
The Packers apparently felt it necessary to add another competitor to their position battle at kicker today, signing Hale out of Oklahoma State. The former walk-on from Australia hit on 43 of his 54 field goal attempts as a Cowboy in Stillwater.
Following the retirement of Tarik Cohen, the Jets opted to sign Jackson. The former Colts rusher had some big moments in 2022 while filling in for an injured Jonathan Taylor. He and Vaughn were both participants in a recent workout with the Texans, but Cam Akers walked away from that day with the job.
Lastly, Owens’, son of NFL legend Terrell Owens, time with one of his father’s former teams has come to an end. His pedigree may have assisted in landing an opportunity as an undrafted free agent in San Francisco, but he was unable to stay rostered throughout camp.
Bengals DE Cameron Sample Suffers Torn Achilles
Cameron Sample will be sidelined for the entire 2024 season. The fourth-year Bengals defensive end has suffered an Achilles tear, head coach Zac Taylor confirmed on Monday.
[RELATED: Recapping Bengals’ Offseason]
The injury occurred during Friday’s practice, and Sample was carted off the field. Today’s news means he will be unavailable for the campaign, something of particular importance for his financial future. Sample, 25 in September, is a pending free agent. This injury will no doubt hurt his market value.
The former fourth-round pick has been a regular on defense during his Cincinnati tenure, making 47 appearances in the regular season and another six in the playoffs. Sample has only made three starts in that time, but his absence will still be felt along the edge for the Bengals. The Tulane alum has collected 58 tackles and five sacks while maintaining a steady snap share in each of the past three years.
The Bengals will move forward with Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard as starters along the edge. Sample’s injury will leave the team relying more heavily on the likes of Joseph Ossai and Myles Murphy. The former has struggled to stay healthy and productive in the NFL so far, but he is confident in a breakout campaign in 2024, the final year of his rookie contract. The latter, meanwhile, will look to build off his three-sack debut Cincinnati campaign from last season.
The remainder of training camp along with the preseason will provide players like 2022 seventh-rounder Jeff Gunter, sixth-round rookie Cedric Johnson and UDFA Justin Blazek with the opportunity to land a roster spot in Sample’s absence. If Cincinnati deems a late-summer free agent addition to be necessary, the team has over $19MM in cap space to work with. Yannick Ngakoue, Carl Lawson and Charles Harris are among the top veterans still on the market.
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/17/21
The Bengals were busy on Monday, inking all seven of their Day 3 picks to their rookie deals. We’ll keep track of all of today’s draft pick signings below:
Cincinnati Bengals
- DE Cameron Sample (fourth-round; Tulane), OT D’Ante Smith (fourth-round; East Carolina), DT Tyler Shelvin (fourth-round; LSU), K Evan McPherson (fifth-round; Florida), C Trey Hill (sixth-round; Georgia), RB Chris Evans (sixth-round; Michigan), DE Wyatt Hubert (seventh-round; Kansas State)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- WR Jalen Camp (sixth-round; Georgia Tech)
Las Vegas Raiders
- S Tyree Gillespie (fourth-round; Missouri), CB Nate Hobbs (fifth-round; Illinois), C Jimmy Morrissey (seventh-round; Pittsburgh)