Today’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
- Promoted: OT Lachavious Simmons
- Placed on IR: RT Bobby Massie
Philadelphia Eagles
- Waived: TE Jason Croom
San Francisco 49ers
- Released: WR Dante Pettis
Today’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
Philadelphia Eagles
San Francisco 49ers
Here is the latest out of San Francisco. More injuries have cropped up for the 49ers, causing them to alter a previous strategy. But the 4-3 team received good news on the health front as well.
Kyle Shanahan has revealed one player on his team’s trade block this season. The 49ers are shopping Dante Pettis, per their fourth-year coach (via The Athletic’s Matt Barrows, on Twitter).
Pettis’ stock has plummeted considerably in San Francisco since he arrived as a 2018 second-round pick. The former Washington Husky standout has no catches this season and was a healthy scratch down the stretch for the 2019 NFC champion 49ers edition. He battled a knee injury as well last season and has missed the past two games with more knee trouble.
Pettis did submit some highlights as a rookie — 27 receptions, 467 yards, five touchdown catches — but has not been seen much on offense since. Shanahan confirming Pettis’ trade-block status also occurred on the wideout’s 25th birthday. John Lynch has fielded “a number” of calls on Pettis, Shanahan said before adding that nothing is imminent, per the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch (on Twitter). Pettis interest appears to be tepid at this point.
At Washington, Pettis caught 15 touchdown passes as a junior in 2016 and was dominant as a returner. In four seasons at the Pac-12 program, Pettis returned nine punts for touchdowns — including four his senior season. The 49ers have since used two more premium draft choices on wideouts, taking Deebo Samuel in the 2019 second round and Brandon Aiyuk in this year’s first round. Both quickly passed Pettis in San Francisco’s aerial pecking order.
The 49ers made their interest in trading Marquise Goodwin public previously and found a taker for the ex-Olympian, sending him to the Eagles during draft weekend. Pettis’ rookie contract runs through the 2021 season.
49ers wide receiver Dante Pettis left practice on Wednesday with what could have been a serious knee injury, luckily, the sophomore wideout’s injury appears to just be a sprain that is not a cause for long-term concern, according to Ian Rapoport. The injury does make his status this week uncertain, but should not limit him later in the year.
This season has gone as good as anyone could have expected for the 49ers, but that has not been the case for Pettis. The team’s second round pick in 2018 appeared poised for a breakout after a strong finish to his rookie season. However, he found himself at the bottom of the team’s depth chart at receiver and has been unable to take advantage of limited opportunities.
In 2019, Pettis has appeared in all 11 49ers games (4 starts) this season and hauled in 11 receptions for 109 yards and two touchdowns. For what it’s worth, Pettis only had 11 receptions and 189 yards at this point last season before recording 262 receiving yards in his next four games.
Pettis may be on the border of the 49ers plans going forward, but a season-ending injury could have spelled the end of his time in San Francisco. Matt Barrows of The Athletic reported that either Pettis or wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, who is dealing with minor injuries of his own, will be inactive this week in San Francisco’s big game in Baltimore against the Ravens.
There’s been a lot of talk about Tom Brady‘s future recently, thanks to ESPN’s Adam Schefter hinting on this past week’s Monday Night Football broadcast that Brady might be eyeing a new team in 2020. Appearing on ESPN’s ‘Get Up’ earlier this week Schefter doubled down, per Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston. Schefter laid out the three possible options: Brady retiring, Brady returning to the Patriots in 2020, or Brady going to a new team. Schefter then said that “staying in New England, to me, would seem like the least likely option of the three.”
That’s a pretty bold statement to make, and Schefter is obviously one of the most well-connected people around the league so he wouldn’t say something like that lightly. The Patriots are coming off yet another Super Bowl win and have started the season 7-0, but thanks to a unique contract maneuver with voidable years, Brady is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2019 campaign. Brady’s deal includes a provision that precludes the Pats from franchise-tagging him, so he’s truly free to walk if he wants to. We’ll surely hear a lot more about his future with New England before the end of the season.
Here’s more from around the league on a quiet Saturday evening as we await kickoff:
49ers wideout Dante Pettis was a second-round pick last year and showed some flashes of promise in his rookie campaign, picking up 27 catches for 467 yards (good for an excellent 17.3 yards-per-reception) and five touchdowns. But he has consistently failed to come up with contested catches in training camp, and he was the only first-stringer from the 49ers’ initial depth chart to play in the club’s preseason opener Saturday.
The consensus has been that Pettis is a surefire starter for San Francisco this year, but head coach Kyle Shanahan said Pettis is not guaranteed a starting job, as Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Shanahan acknowledged that Pettis has a great deal of room for improvement, and he said he put Pettis in the game because he wanted the second-year pro to compete and to start elevating his game.
Rookie wideouts Jalen Hurd and Deebo Samuel played well in their NFL debuts, while Pettis had one target and no catches.
Now for more from the 49ers:
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
Detroit Lions
New York Giants
San Francisco 49ers
Washington Redskins
Cowboys defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford was carted off the field today following a scary collision with Buccaneers offensive lineman Ryan Jensen. Fortunately, it sounds like the veteran will be alright. Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com writes that a scan and MRI of Crawford’s neck came back as negative, and the lineman has been released from the hospital.
“Everything checks out very good,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “I’m really pleased with the initial MRIs, all the examinations. He went on to the hospital and had those examinations. . . .He doesn’t seem to have structural issues at all.”
Crawford is having another productive season in 2018, compiling 34 tackles and a career-high 5.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus currently ranks Crawford 36th among 116 eligible interior defenders. If the lineman is forced to miss any time, the Cowboys could turn to former first-rounder Taco Charlton to fill in.
Let’s check out some more injury notes from around the NFL…
The Packers could potentially be without two starting receivers when they face the Lions on Sunday, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. Randall Cobb is dealing with a hamstring injury and worked out with a rehab group during practice today, while Geronimo Allison is in the concussion protocol. If neither pass-catcher can go, Green Bay will be forced to turn to a pair of rookie receivers, Marques Valdez-Scantling and J’Mon Moore. Valdez-Scantling took over slot duties last week while Cobb was out, so he’d probably play there in three-wide sets against Detroit. For what it’s worth, No. 1 Packers wide receiver Davante Adams was listed as limited with a calf injury on Wednesday, but he’s expected to be ready for Sunday’s divisional matchup.
Here’s more from the NFC:
The 49ers have wrapped up their 2018 rookie class by inking second-round wide receiver Dante Pettis, the club announced tonight.
With Pettis under contract, only quarterback Sam Darnold of the Jets and linebacker Roquan Smith of the Bears unsigned, and offset language is likely holding up those deals. IT stands to figure both Darnold and Smith will reach deals in the near future, especially as their respective teams begin training camp this week.
Pettis, the 44th overall selection, had been the only second-round pick without a contract. According to Over the Cap, Pettis’ four-year deal should be worth roughly $6.4MM in total. Pettis will collect a ~$2.735MM signing bonus, and count for approximately $1.164MM on the Browns’ 2018 salary cap.
The 49ers have two clear starters at wideout in the form of Pierre Garcon and Marquise Goodwin, but there are no other serious impediments to Pettis seeing snaps on offense. He’s been learning every receiver spot in San Francisco’s offense, but he’ll likely see quite a bit of time in the slot now that Trent Taylor is starting training camp on the active/physically unable to perform list, tweets Matt Barrows of the Sacrmento Bee.
Here’s a full recap of San Francisco’s draft class: