All 49ers

Detroit Lions Sign Former 49ers WR Ronnie Bell to Reserve/Future Deal

The 49ers just lost one of their draft picks for 2023.
Grant Cohn|
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ronnie Bell (10) after defeating the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ronnie Bell (10) after defeating the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

In this story:

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers just lost one of their draft picks for 2023.

Wide receiver Ronnie Bell signed a Reserve/Future Contract with the Detroit Lions on Tuesday. Bell finished the season on the 49ers practice squad.

The 49ers originally drafted Bell in Round 7 of the 2023 NFL Draft. And as a rookie, he showed promise. He appeared in all 17 regular season games, caught six passes and scored three touchdowns.

But 2024 was a disaster for Bell. Early in the season, he got an opportunity to play while Deebo Samuel missed Week 3 with an injury. That week, the 49ers played the Rams in Los Angeles, and Bell dropped a key deep pass late in the fourth quarter that would have put the 49ers in field-goal position. They eventually lost by three points and their season spiraled out of control after that.

Of course, Bell isn't the reason the 49ers' season went off the rails. But they eventually waived him and then stashed him on their practice squad, which likely meant his opportunity with the 49ers was over. Now it seems he'll get a fresh shot with the Lions. He'll be placed on their 53-man roster once the new league year begins on March 12.

Bell still has talent as a receiver. He's not the biggest or the fastest player, but he could be effective in the slot backing up Amon-Ra St. Brown. In addition, Bell is a willing and effective blocker having played for Jim Harbaugh at the University of Michigan.

Download and follow The Cohn Zohn Podcast.

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Share on XFollow grantcohn
Home/News