5 49ers Who Should Not Make the Final 53-Man Roster

All 32 NFL teams will soon finalize their 53-man rosters.

It’s a difficult task to go from 90 to 53, but one that must be done. However, some players will be easy cuts, especially for the 49ers. That said, here are five players the 49ers should cut.

RB Isaac Guerendo

Kyle Shanahan has been all the way out on Isaac Guerendo since last season. And now that he didn’t participate in training camp or the preseason, he should be a dead man walking.

Guerendo shouldn’t even be considered for the Injured Reserve list. It would be a waste of a spot, even though there’s no limit. That’s how pointless it would be to keep him there.

Unless the 49ers feel desperate to use him on special teams, he needs to be gone. He’ll never help out on offense. Cutting him sets a standard: they don’t retain mediocre, injury-prone players.

LB Nick Martin

Another player who is below average is Nick Martin. He couldn’t muster enough positive plays to outweigh the negatives. Given that he’s taken a backseat to rookie Jaden Dugger, he’s buried on the depth chart.

At this point, he’ll never see the field. Martin is behind Dugger, Garrett Wallow, Tatum Bethune, and probably Deion Jones, whom the 49ers recently traded for. Martin hasn’t justified a spot on the team.

He has to be cut. The signs point to him being cut. Maybe the 49ers can pull off a trade with the Tennessee Titans. Robert Saleh is the one who wanted him anyway. The 49ers would gladly take a sixth or even seventh-rounder for him now.

CB Nate Hobbs

He probably will be retained, but I think it’s fine if the 49ers want to cut veteran Nate Hobbs. He’s missed the majority of training camp and all of the preseason with a groin injury.

Hobbs sustaining an injury isn’t surprising at all. This is who he is: an injury-prone player. He hasn’t played more than 13 games in a season since 2013. It’s also been a few seasons since he’s been adequate.

Why keep him? If the 49ers cut him, it’s not like they’re losing out on a solid nickel to back up Upton Stout. The time he’s missed will make him a greater target than he already is now if he has to fill in. Let him go.

TE Brayden Willis

The easiest cut for the 49ers to make is Brayden Willis. They’re not even playing him at his natural position exclusively anymore. It’s not because they think he’s some uber-talented player with versatility.

It’s because he’s not good at tight end, so they’re trying to see if he can pan out elsewhere, like at tight end. Against the Las Vegas Raiders, Willis was constantly failing to block someone.

He played that game to simply get cardio and nothing more. There’s no spot for him on the 49ers. He’s never come close to being useful to them since he was drafted in 2023. It’s time to end his tenure once and for all.

WR Christian Kirk

Speaking of tenure, veteran Christian Kirk essentially hasn’t even started his. He participated in the first practice of training camp and was never seen again. A calf strain has held him out this whole time.

He’s not some player in his mid-30s, but he has a history of injuries. Even if he comes back soon, he’s likely going to get hurt again. His body is clearly breaking down and struggling to recover.

Plus, he'll be lost in the offense since he hasn’t practiced. He has no reps with Brock Purdy and no idea how to execute the offense. The 49ers will most likely place him on Injured Reserve, but it’s best to let him go.

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