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The San Francisco 49ers are trying to accentuate the positive as they deal with a ton of injuries. And they’ve been wheeling and dealing to cover depth issues. But there are still roster spots to be decided, and here are two surprise preseason cuts to watch before Week 1.
At the head of the list is defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos. He seemed to be in good shape, but an injury has slowed his preseason progress. However, if the 49ers let him go, he could still land with another team, according to bleacherreport.com.
“Gross-Matos was sidelined by a knee injury to open training camp and could have a hard time securing a spot among a crowded roster,” Kristopher Knox wrote.
49ers DE Yetur Gross-Matos trying to hold a spot
It’s not that Gross-Matos hasn’t been productive. Last year with the 49ers, the 27—year-old player totaled 19 tackles, four sacks, and 10 quarterback pressures in 11 games. However, the 49ers made a bold move in the first round by grabbing edge rusher Mykel Williams, who quickly ascended to the top of the depth chart ahead of Gross-Matos.
Also, the 49ers brought in Bryce Huff through a trade. Nick Bosa is still there, too. So what does the future look like if the 49ers cut Gross-Matos?
“Other franchises might have an easier time justifying Gross-Matos' $7.4 million base salary, given his past production in a rotational role,” Knox wrote. “However, the 49ers made it a point to purge salary this offseason and could save $7.8 million by releasing him.”
The arrival of Williams was a big deal for Gross-Matos. However, Gross-Matos’ injury could save him in the short term if he goes on the PUP list, according to ninersnation.com.
“That hasn’t been coming as fast as they want,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said of the injury. “We still got two weeks here that we’re hoping for. That’ll be one of our big decisions with everything that I talked about . . . how long we have to wait till he comes back. We’re going to take as much as we can, but time’s coming up to where we have to make a decision.”
Shanahan said injuries across the board make the roster puzzle that much more challenging, according to 49erswebzone.com.
“Yeah, definitely,” Shanahan responded. “I mean, there are a lot of different thoughts you're trying to take on. You want to think of who your team is for Week 1, who your 53 is, who your 46 is (active players on game days), who's going to be back for Week 2, and who might be up in Week 1.”
What are the choices for DE Yetur Gross-Matos?
There’s a potential option for Gross-Matos, according to a post on X by Matt Maiocco.
“NFL teams are allowed to place two players on IR (designated for return) concurrently with the cuts to the initial 53-man roster next Tuesday. The 49ers' top two candidates, IMO, are DT Kevin Givens (pec) and RB Corey Kiner (high ankle).”
So that means Gross-Matos won’t get the first look for those designations.
Shanahan said things tend to work themselves out in these situations.
“All that stuff pans out,” Shanahan added. “It's a really complicated thing that we really can't talk about enough because it's always changing each day, and it will be all the way up to when we make that decision. Even after we make that decision, we'll have to do that all the way until the Friday or Saturday of that game also.”
Shanahan said the team is looking into the issue of having so many injuries year after year.
“It's stuff that we look into every year,” Shanahan said. “We'll try to even look into it more after this year. But we haven't even been able to have the training camp that we normally want to have because of the injuries. It's not like they just all happened one week. They happened pretty early with the number of guys.
“And just the way our schedule's gone with our scrimmages, having these games, the off days, and traveling, I don't feel like we've had enough of the training camp practice to say that we're going too hard. But obviously, we have too many guys down, so we've got to look into all that stuff, and figure out whatever we can do better.”
WR Junior Bergen still on the cusp
In a world with no injuries, Bergen wouldn’t be strongly in the mix. He’s a seventh-round pick, who hasn’t exploded in the preseason.
However, on this team, Bergen could get one of possibly five receiver spots, according to Sports Illustrated.
“Brandon Aiyuk will start the year on the PUP and Demarcus Robinson is likely to be suspended and off the initial roster,” Parker Hurley wrote a few days ago. “It opens a spot for Junior Bergen, who is just off for now.”
Robinson did get suspended for three weeks, but it didn’t help Bergen’s cause. That’s because the 49ers traded for Skyy Moore. Given Moore’s experience and coming from a winning organization, he could eclipse Bergen on the 53-man roster.
