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Coming off an NFC Championship game defeat, the San Francisco 49ers are once again one of the lead Super Bowl contenders in the NFC. Breakout quarterback Brock Purdy (if he is healthy) will lead one of the most balanced offenses in the NFL and will have the benefit of having one of the league's stoutest defenses.
With training camp soon approaching, the 49ers face difficult decisions about which players to keep on the roster. The final cut is August 29th, and by then every team must cull its roster from the current 90-player limit to a final group of 53. Here are some notable — and high-paid — San Francisco 49ers players who should be worried about not making the cut.
49ers roster cut candidates before 2023 NFL training camp
Brandon Allen
The 49ers currently have four quarterbacks on their roster — all with starting experience in the NFL. Youngsters Brock Purdy and Trey Lance are the returners from the 2022 team that reached the NFC Championship game, while the team also brought in veteran free agents Sam Darnold and Brandon Allen.
Purdy is currently at the top of the depth chart but is questionable for the start of the season due to the elbow injury he suffered in the playoffs. Behind him, in order, is Darnold, Lance, and Allen. The top three have proven to be solid NFL starters, while Allen is still a solid backup.
Brandon Allen spent the last three years in Cincinnati, where he put up a respectable 82.1 quarterback rating and a positive touchdown-to-interception ratio across six starts. Yet even with Purdy's injury issue, it is difficult to see the 49ers keeping four quarterbacks, especially when they have so much starting experience and potential between them. Brandon Allen is the fourth quarterback in the depth chart, leaving him as the odd man out this summer.
Zane Gonzalez
An inconsistent kicker for the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals across his first four NFL seasons, Zane Gonzalez put it all together with the Carolina Panthers in 2021. Gonzalez made a career-high 90.9% of his field goals, with no misses from inside 50 yards. Unfortunately, the Arizona State product injured his quad while warming up during the Panthers' final preseason game and missed the entire season.
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Prior to the 2023 NFL Draft, the 49ers acquired Gonzalez for a conditional swap of late-round picks in the 2025 draft. This was, of course, before the 49ers invested a third-round pick in Michigan placekicker Jake Moody, making him the second-highest drafted kicker in the last 18 years. Moody won the Lou Groza Award as the best collegiate kicker in 2021 and made 86.7% of his field goal attempts over his last two years in Ann Arbor, including a long of 59 yards.
It is unlikely that the 49ers will move on from Moody any time soon, so Zane Gonzalez's performances with San Francisco will likely only be a showcase for other NFL franchises.
Kyle Juszczyk
NFL teams are always looking to save a few bucks, and this can often lead to them unexpectedly cutting successful veteran players. Kyle Juszczyk is the highest-paid fullback in the NFL, as he is set to earn $6.5 million this season. But at age 32, is the seven-time Pro-Bowler expendable?
One possible replacement for Juszczyk is Jack Colletto, the 2022 Paul Hornung Award as the nation's most versatile player. Colletto came to Oregon State as a highly-ranked dual-threat quarterback, but after two years under center, he ended up as a linebacker/fullback/special teams standout.
He had 15 touchdowns over his last two years at OSU to go with an interception and a blocked field goal. Colletto is a gifted athlete who will need to get stronger to make the grade as an NFL fullback, but he is at the very least an intriguing, low-cost replacement for the talented Kyle Juszczyk. Cutting Juszczyk saves the Niners almost $4 million in cap space this year, making for an interesting decision to be made in the SF backfield.
