Minor NFL Transactions: 1/7/26
Wednesday’s midweek minor moves:
Green Bay Packers
- Activated from IR: LB Nick Niemann
- Placed on IR: WR Bo Melton
- Reverted to season-ending reserve/PUP: G John Williams
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Reverted to season-ending IR: LB Jalen McLeod
Los Angeles Chargers
- Designated for return from IR: FB Tucker Fisk
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed from practice squad: LB Eric Kendricks
- Placed on IR: LB Tatum Bethune (story)
Seattle Seahawks
- Designated for return from IR: TE Elijah Arroyo
In Green Bay, head coach Matt LaFleur relayed that Melton doesn’t have a torn ACL, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, but his knee injury is just going to take some time to recover. Meanwhile, the Chargers and Seahawks look to return two role players to offenses as they ready for their first playoff games.
The 21-day practice windows have come and gone for McLeod and Willams. Without an activation, both players will return to their respective injured lists.
49ers LB Tatum Bethune Out For Playoffs; Latest On Fred Warner
The 49ers’ Week 18 loss to the Seahawks prevented them from securing the No. 1 seed in the NFC and a division title. To worsen matters, the 49ers’ banged-up defense took more shots in the regular-season finale.
Linebacker Tatum Bethune will miss the postseason after suffering a groin injury, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced (via Nick Wagoner of ESPN). Fellow linebackers Dee Winters (ankle) and Luke Gifford (quadriceps) are also dealing with injuries from the Seattle game. Their statuses for the wild-card round are uncertain, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
As a 2024 seventh-round pick, Bethune barely factored into the 49ers’ defense as a rookie. The former Florida State Seminole played 11 games and logged 165 of his 216 snaps on special teams.
Bethune remained a relatively anonymous member of the 49ers’ roster early this season, but he took on a far bigger role when all-world linebacker Fred Warner broke and dislocated his ankle in a Week 6 win over the Buccaneers.
Warner’s injury opened up playing time for Bethune, who wound up starting in eight of 14 appearances and totaling 94 tackles. While Pro Football Focus ranked Bethune’s performance an unspectacular 69th among 88 qualifying linebackers, he earned a respectable 73.2 grade against the run.
Warner hasn’t played in almost three months, though there’s hope he’ll return if the 49ers make a deep playoff run. Shanahan said Monday that Warner may come back if the 49ers reach the NFC Championship Game (via Matt Barrows of the The Athletic). In the meantime, sixth-seeded San Francisco will have to go on the road to beat Philadelphia this weekend and then knock off another opponent in the divisional round.
The 49ers’ defense will face more adversity if Winters and Gifford can’t go Sunday. Winters finished second among 49ers defenders with a 91.5% snap share, trailing only cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, and picked up 101 tackles, five passes defensed and an interception. Gifford’s a lesser presence on defense, but he earned his first Pro Bowl nod for his work on special teams. He led the 49ers’ ST unit with an 80.9% snap share in 2025.
In the event Winters and Gifford are unavailable this week, the 49ers will go into the playoffs with Eric Kendricks (currently on the practice squad), Curtis Robinson and Garret Wallow as their top options at linebacker, Barrows notes. Kendricks is a former Pro Bowler with 143 starts on his resume, but the 33-year-old amassed just 46 defensive snaps in three games with the 49ers during the regular season. Robinson has only started three games (all in 2025) during his five-year career, while Wallow’s most recent start came with the Texans in 2022. The 49ers claimed him off waivers from the Broncos on Dec. 6. A month later, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh may have to rely on Wallow in the playoffs.
Saleh’s defense overcame long-term injuries to Warner and Nick Bosa, who tore his ACL in Week 3, during a 12-win campaign. As injuries continue to mount ahead of the postseason, Saleh’s job isn’t getting any easier.
49ers LB Tatum Bethune To Miss Multiple Games
Even the 49ers’ injury replacements are getting hurt. Linebacker Tatum Bethune, who stepped in for All-Pro Fred Warner after he went down in Week 6, will now miss multiple games with a high ankle sprain suffered in Week 11.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan announced (via NBC Sports’ Matt Maiocco) Bethune’s injury on Thursday and named five-year veteran Curtis Robinson as the team’s new starting middle linebacker. Robinson is primarily a special teams contributor, but has played the most defensive snaps of his career this season. That workload will grow further as he steps into a full-time role in the 49ers defense.
Bethune, 25, has not been able to replicate Warner’s all-around impact – few players in the NFL could. But he has been a reliable tackler, racking up 60 tackles in his five games before getting injured. San Francisco will be hoping that he can return before the end of the season to bolster a defense that has been decimated by injuries.
Sunday’s game against the Panthers will be Robinson’s first NFL start. Carolina’s offense has been extremely inconsistent this season, but Bryce Young just set a franchise record with 448 passing yards last week. The 49ers, meanwhile, just gave up 452 yards and an NFL-record 47 completions to Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals.
49ers Host LBs Workout
Last week, the 49ers suffered the loss of their best defensive player for the remainder of the season when Fred Warner‘s ankle was fractured and dislocated. The team officially placed him on injured reserve yesterday while, at the same time, hosting five free agent linebackers for workouts. Per Howard Balzer of CardsWire, linebackers Ben Niemann, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Chandler Wooten, and two others were in San Francisco for the tryout yesterday. 
One of the worst parts about losing a player as talented and reliable as Warner is that, considering he’s missed one of a possible 122 regular season games in his career, there usually isn’t much incentive to stack talent at the position behind him. The 49ers typically run two off-ball linebackers in their base defense. The starters are Warner and Dee Winters, and before last week’s game, there had only been five defensive snaps all season in which both were not on the field.
It was Tatum Bethune that subbed in for Warner in the remainder of last week’s game. Bethune was a seventh-round draft pick out of Florida State last year who played almost exclusively on special teams as a rookie. Appearing in 11 games, he saw defensive snaps in just five. He only saw more than four snaps in one game — the 6-11 team’s regular season finale in which Bethune was given a chance to start. The Week 18 start was not a sign of things to come, though. When Bethune entered for Warner last week, he was seeing his first defensive snaps since the three he played in Week 1 of this year.
So, while the 49ers may be comfortable moving forward with Bethune as the starting middle linebacker based on his familiarity with the defense over the past year and a half, one can hardly blame them for trying out some potential help. Niemann is the most experienced of the crowd. Starting his seven-year career in Kansas City, Niemann has been a dependable rotation defender for the Chiefs, Cardinals, and Lions over his career. He’s played in 103 total games, starting 25, and aside from his rookie season and a down year in Denver in 2023, Niemann’s averaged just over 50 tackles per season.
Reeves-Maybin is the next most experienced linebacker. Though he spent many years (seven in Detroit, one in Houston) as a depth piece and special teamer, Reeves-Maybin has shown he can perform as an injury replacement with 14 spot starts for the Lions, including 11 in 2021. He and Niemann were actually on the same defense in Detroit last year. Wooten was a depth piece and special teamer for the Panthers the last few years, earning two starts last year. He had signed briefly to San Francisco’s practice squad last year, returning to Carolina after a week.
The other two linebackers attending the workout were undrafted rookies Stone Blanton and Kam Arnold. Blanton signed with San Francisco out of Mississippi State, spending the offseason with the 49ers before failing to make the initial 53-man roster. Arnold, coming out of Boston College, followed a similar path with the Commanders. No contracts came immediately from yesterday’s workouts, but it will certainly be something to keep an eye on, depending on how Bethune performs in place of Warner as the season goes on.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/30/24
Monday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Claimed off waivers (from Buccaneers): LB Vi Jones
- Placed on IR: S Joey Blount
Baltimore Ravens
- Designated to return from IR: TE Charlie Kolar
Detroit Lions
- Activated from IR: LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin
- Elevated: RB Jermar Jefferson, DE Chris Smith
New York Jets
- Claimed off waivers (from Vikings): LB Jamin Davis
- Waived: K Anders Carlson
- Placed on IR: S Chuck Clark
San Francisco 49ers
- Activated from IR: LB Tatum Bethune
- Claimed off waivers (from Titans): CB Tre Avery
- Elevated: DE Alex Barrett, G Drake Nugent
- Placed on IR: G Aaron Banks
Tennessee Titans
- Waived: K Matthew Wright
By claiming Jones, the Cardinals reunite him with his brother, wide receiver Zay Jones, for the final week of the regular season.
The Ravens are looking to return their third tight end to the fold after Kolar broke his arm a month ago. When ready, he’ll be back to close out the regular season and prepare for the playoffs behind Baltimore’s other two strong tight ends.
The Jets will be finishing the season without their starting safety in Clark. Clark, who battled back from injury earlier this season, was placed on injured reserve for an undisclosed reason today.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/27/24
Friday’s minor moves:
Denver Broncos
- Elevated: DE Matt Henningsen, WR David Sills
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Waived: DE DJ Coleman
New England Patriots
- Activated from IR: T Caedan Wallace
- Elevated: WR Alex Erickson, LB Monty Rice
- Placed on IR: CB Marcus Jones
San Francisco 49ers
- Designated to return from IR: LB Tatum Bethune
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived: DE Earnest Brown IV, LB Antonio Grier
Tennessee Titans
- Waived (with failed physical designation): LB David Long (story)
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/23/24
Saturday’s minor moves, including gameday elevations for Week 12:
Arizona Cardinals
- Elevated: S Andre Chachere
Chicago Bears
- Elevated: DB Adrian Colbert
Denver Broncos
- Elevated: LB Zach Cunningham, OL Nick Gargiulo
Houston Texans
- Elevated: DL Tommy Togiai
Kansas City Chiefs
- Elevated: LB Cole Christiansen
Las Vegas Raiders
- Elevated: CB Kyu Blu Kelly, RB Sincere McCormick
Los Angeles Rams
- Elevated: DB Cam Lampkin, DE Jonah Williams
Miami Dolphins
- Elevated: LS Tucker Addington, T Jackson Carman
Minnesota Vikings
- Activated from IR: TE Nick Muse
- Elevated: LS Jake McQuaide
New England Patriots
- Elevated: LB Keshawn Banks, TE Jack Westover
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed to active roster: S Tashaun Gipson
- Placed on IR: LB Tatum Bethune
- Elevated: LB Jalen Graham, CB Nick McCloud
Seattle Seahawks
- Elevated: TE Tyler Mabry, LB Patrick O’Connell
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Elevated: LB Vi Jones
- Waived: LB Antonio Grier
Tennessee Titans
- Placed on IR: CB L’Jarius Sneed (story)
- Elevated: S Daryl Worley
Washington Commanders
- Activated from IR: DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste
- Waived: RB Chris Rodriguez Jr.
49ers Expecting To Start Season Without LB Dre Greenlaw
49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw has known for a while that he faces long odds of returning from injury in time for Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season. After suffering a torn Achilles tendon in the Super Bowl, Greenlaw has been working his way back to the field slowly. As the regular season approaches, though, it’s becoming more and more clear that San Francisco will need to look elsewhere to start the year. 
According to Matt Barrows of The Athletic, the 49ers have been operating under the assumption that they’ll be starting the year without Greenlaw since they entered the offseason. Initially, the team made moves to acquire Eric Kendricks, planning to utilize him in that weakside linebacker role as Greenlaw continued to recover. Kendricks opted instead to sign with the Cowboys, changing his mind after coming to an agreement with San Francisco.
With Kendricks out, the Niners signed recent Packers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell. Campbell has spent most of his career as one of two inside linebackers in 3-4 defensive fronts, so he’ll face a slight adjustment in San Francisco’s base 4-3 scheme. The consensus after the spring is that Campbell will start off the year in Greenlaw’s weakside linebacker position until Greenlaw is able to come off of the injured list (likely the physically unable to perform list), then Campbell will transition to the strongside role.
To fill that strongside role until Campbell comes over, San Francisco has several options. There are three veterans — Zeke Turner, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, and Curtis Robinson — on the roster, but all three have established themselves as special teamers over the past few years, though Turner and Flannigan-Fowles do have a few starts under their belt. Three young, late-round draft picks make up the rest of the room. Last year’s seventh-round pick Jalen Graham saw extremely reserved time last season, while this year’s seventh-round rookie Tatum Bethune may not be asked to step into that big of a role this quickly.
Last year’s sixth-round pick out of TCU, Dee Winters, though, has been tabbed by starting middle linebacker Fred Warner as a player to watch. Though Winters played in 15 games last season, he played sparingly on the defense. This spring, though, Warner called out Winters as having “the best (organized team activities) out of anybody on the team.”
If Winters continues to be a strong contributor throughout training camp, he may end up getting elevated from special teamer to starter to open the year. Winters may be able to provide the 49ers with the temporary bandage they need to cover for the absence of Greenlaw until he returns from a probable PUP stint. If not, they may need to explore more veteran options on the free agent market or rely upon a veteran of their own.
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/10/24
Yesterday’s rush of rookie signings continued today. Here are Friday’s draft pick signings:
Arizona Cardinals
- TE Tip Reiman (third round, Illinois)
Atlanta Falcons
- LB JD Bertrand (fifth round, Notre Dame)
- RB Jase McClellan (sixth round, Alabama)
- WR Casey Washington (sixth round, Illinois)
- DT Zion Logue (sixth round, Georgia)
Cincinnati Bengals
- DT McKinnley Jackson (third round, Texas A&M)
- CB Josh Newton (fifth round, TCU)
- TE Tanner McLachlan (sixth round, Arizona)
- S Daijahn Anthony (seventh round, Mississippi)
- C Matt Lee (seventh round, Miami (FL))
Cleveland Browns
- G Zak Zinter (third round, Michigan)
- WR Jamari Thrash (fifth round, Louisville)
- LB Nathaniel Watson (sixth round, Mississippi State)
- CB Myles Harden (seventh round, South Dakota)
- DT Jowon Briggs (seventh round, Cincinnati)
Detroit Lions
- T Giovanni Manu (fourth round, British Columbia)
- RB Sione Vaki (fourth round, Utah)
- DT Mekhi Wingo (sixth round, LSU)
- G Christian Mahogany (sixth round, Boston College)
Las Vegas Raiders
- T DJ Glaze (third round, Maryland)
Los Angeles Chargers
- LB Junior Colson (third round, Michigan)
- CB Tarheeb Still (fifth round, Maryland)
- CB Cam Hart (fifth round, Notre Dame)
- RB Kimani Vidal (sixth round, Troy)
- WR Brenden Rice (seventh round, USC)
- WR Cornelius Johnson (seventh round, Michigan)
Minnesota Vikings
- K Will Reichard (sixth round, Alabama)
- C Michael Jurgens (seventh round, Wake Forest)
- DT Levi Drake Rodriguez (seventh round, Texas A&M-Commerce)
New England Patriots
- CB Marcellas Dial (sixth round, South Carolina)
- QB Joe Milton III (sixth round, Tennessee)
- TE Jaheim Bell (seventh round, Florida State)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- G Mason McCormick (fourth round, South Dakota State)
- DT Logan Lee (sixth round, Iowa)
San Francisco 49ers
- OL Dominick Puni (third round, Kansas)
- S Malik Mustapha (fourth round, Wake Forest)
- LB Tatum Bethune (seventh round, Florida State)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- RB Bucky Irving (fourth round, Oregon)
- G Elijah Klein (sixth round, UTEP)
Washington Commanders
- WR Luke McCaffrey (third round, Rice)
- LB Jordan Magee (fifth round, Temple)
- S Dominique Hampton (fifth round, Washington)
- DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste (seventh round, Notre Dame)