Kendrick Bourne Signs With San Francisco 49ers Amid Jauan Jennings Week 1 Injury
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In contractual news, Kendrick Bourne just signed with the San Francisco 49ers. This comes as notable as Jauan Jennings went down yesterday with a shoulder injury. In typical San Francisco fashion, we do not know how serious the injury is, but he will miss time either way. This allows for Kendrick Bourne is to into an immediate pass-catching role as a trusty veteran in this Shanahan offense.
Kendrick Bourne Signs With the 49ers
Kendrick Bourne is the third new wide receiver to join the 49ers in recent weeks. They traded for Skyy Moore a couple weeks ago and they signed Marquez Valdes-Scantling the other day. As for the depth chart outlook, Bourne is already a projected starter, per Ourlads. He would be the WR2 behind Ricky Pearsall until Brandon Aiyuk returns.
Kendrick Bourne is returning home to the San Francisco 49ers on a 1-year deal with a max value of $5 million, per @HenryOrgann and @AgentBigAl of @DisruptiveSports. pic.twitter.com/uBWDQgisSc
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 8, 2025
Kendrick Bourne played four years with the 49ers prior to signing with the New England Patriots. As he enters year nine in the league Bourne returns home. As a 49ers, Bourne record 1,769 Yards and 11 Touchdowns in 58 career games. As a Patriot, Bourne recorded 1,945 Yards and 11 Touchdowns over 53 games. He has been a consistent WR3, for the most part, with 33.5 Yards per Game.
49ers Offensive Outlook W/ Bourne
It appears that Jauan Jennings will be missing time, with the severity to be decided. George Kittle himself endured another soft-tissue hamstring injury. An MRI will decide his time-missed, but he seems to project to miss 2-3 weeks, per Deepak Chona.
#49ers George Kittle - Avg = 2-3 wks. MRI tom. Age 31 + his soft tissue history predicts slower return. Mild performance dip upon return, but re-injury risk can be high (~20+%)#Buccaneers Chris Godwin - Plan = return Wk 5. Data favors 20% dip + slow ramp up until ~Wk 8+
— Deepak Chona, MD. SMA (@SportMDAnalysis) September 8, 2025
2/6 pic.twitter.com/I6uv1N6clQ
This now makes for a Week 2-3 target-share to be divvied up between Ricky Pearsall as the WR1, Kendrick Bourne as the WR2, and a mix of Skyy Moore, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Russell Gage. I would imagine that this offense will go run-first will heavy work to Christian McCaffrey. It is absolutely vital that he remains healthy for the time being. McCaffrey may very well be the makeshift WR2 with much screen and slant work. McCaffrey had 7 catches in Week 1.
Stock Watch:
Ricky Pearsall: Upgrade to Borderline WR1 Status
Kendrick Bourne: Mostly sittable with limited time in offense.
MVS/Skyy Moore/Russell Gage: All sittable, unrosterable until proven otherwise. Low upside given short-term absences of Jennings, Kittle, Aiyuk.
Christian McCaffrey: Major upgrade, Top-3 fantasy running back and potential RB1.
Brock Purdy: Downgrade, unstartable without key pass-catchers.
Return Schedule For Injuries:
Jauan Jennings: TBD
George Kittle: Likely 2-3 Weeks
Brandon Aiyuk: Eyeing Week 6 Return (5 Weeks)
More Fantasy Sports On SI News:
Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.