Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Thursday, May 29th, 2025

49ers release punter Mitch Wishnowsky, sign 39-year-old Thomas Morstead (paywall)

“The 49ers released Wishnowsky, 33, on Wednesday and signed Thomas Morstead, 39, who ranks 11th in NFL history in gross punting average (46.8) and has strong ties to new special teams coordinator Brant Boyer. Morstead wrote “Grateful is an understatement! #49ers” on social media Wednesday morning along with a selfie at Levi’s Stadium.”

Ricky Pearsall and 7 other young 49ers poised to break out in 2025 (paywall)

“As the 2024 season wound down, Pearsall said he wanted...

The 49ers added multiple players to the roster on Wednesday.

The San Francisco 49ers made multiple moves on Wednesday, officially signing punter Thomas Morstead and linebacker Thomas Morstead while releasing longtime punter Mitch Wishnowsky.

Morstead, 39, had been the Jets punter for the past two seasons, leading the league in punts and punt yards back in 2023. He’s now slated to be San Francisco’s punter, as the 49ers released Mitch Wishnowsky, whom they drafted in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Wishnowsky was in the third year of a four-year, $11.2 million extension that he signed back in...

The 49ers need these 5 players to perform at a high level in order to win big in 2025.

The San Francisco 49ers have started organized team activities (OTAs), marking them one phase closer to the start of the regular season.

It’s a much different roster for the 49ers, who saw a good chunk of their roster depart via free agency. Electing not to make a splash move, San Francisco instead relied on the draft to recoup talent and is now positioning themselves to return to the playoffs in 2025, potentially.

Last year was a disappointing season for the 49ers....

Taking a look at Fred Warner’s contract extension and breaking down the details, courtesy of Over the Cap.

The San Francisco 49ers' extension of Fred Warner was one of the no-brainer moves we discussed back in January. Warner rightfully became the highest-paid linebacker in the NFL once again a little over a week ago. It was never something Warner seemed to be worried about after having said, “It’ll all work itself out” a week ago.

There’s confusion when it comes to extensions in the NFL. Some fans believe that an extension ultimately costs the team more money. We finally have...

The 49ers need a return to form from the former OPOY

Following a season filled with injuries and personal tragedies for the San Francisco 49ers, selecting a single player to bounce back is not easy. Fred Warner played most of the season with a fractured ankle, Trent Williams missed time with injuries, and Brandon Aiyuk lost his season to an ACL/MCL injury against the Kansas City Chiefs.

All three players are poised to bounce back in 2025. Each player is vital to the 49ers’ success. Williams protects Brock Purdy’s blindside, Warner is the defensive captain, and Aiyuk is the team’s...

The 49ers are also bringing in competition for Mitch Wishnowsky

The San Francisco 49ers signed 39-year-old punter Thomas Morstead with OTAs underway:

Special teams coordinator Brant Boyer has seen Morstead up close and personal on the Jets the previous two seasons.

Morstead averaged 47.2 yards per punt last season, which was about four yards further than Wishnowsky in 2024. In fairness to Wishnowsky, he was dealing with an injury that gave him one of the lowest net punts in the NFL. Still, he had only eclipsed 47.2 yards per punt just once since entering the NFL in 2019.

Interestingly, this...

Here’s an early prediction of what the 49ers roster will look like in 2025

We attempted to project the San Francisco 49ers’ depth chart for the 2025 NFL season. As the team heads into Phase III of OTAs, we’ll make our prediction of who will make the final cut down to 53 players. This will be a multiple-part series, as we’ll revisit this a week into training camp and once the preseason has concluded.

Offense

Quarterback: Brock Purdy, Mac Jones, Tanner Mordecai (3) [3]

If Kurtis Rourke were healthy, I’d take him as QB3, comfortably, over Mordecai. In...

Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Wednesday, May 28th, 2025

49ers’ Jake Moody aims to trade distance for accuracy with new kicking approach (paywall)

“That started back in March, when Moody hit a practice field in Naples, Fla., with longtime kicking coach Brandon Kornblue. They have been together since Moody was in middle school and the usual ball-contact drills soon turned to something else. They started tweaking his stance and how far back he was from the ball and then got rid of the third jab step.

“You have to be careful when you change something like that,...

The former NFL wide receiver shared his thoughts on the 49ers extending Brock Purdy

The San Francisco 49ers got their main piece of offseason business done last week, signing Brock Purdy to a five-year, $265 million extension that includes $181 million in guaranteed money.

Purdy, a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, was coming off his second full season as the team’s starter, throwing for 3,864 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in 2024.

That came after a strong 2023 campaign where Purdy tossed for 4,280 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, leading the league in a few efficiency...

After a down year for the receiver group, did any make PFF’s list?

Pro Football Focus ranked the 32 NFL quarterbacks recently and has returned with the top 32 Wide Receivers in the NFL. Brock Purdy made it to tier three with Jared Goff and Geno Smith. Before the 2025 season begins, are any San Francisco 49ers on the top-32 list?

Trevor Sikkema of PFF is back at it with his rankings.

Surprisingly, A.J. Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles claims the top spot ahead of Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase. Sikkema cited Brown’s league-leading receiving grade against single coverage for...

After all of the moves made, which player on the roster benefitted from the 49ers offseason the most?

Unless the San Francisco 49ers are a darkhorse candidate to trade for Miami Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey or make a move along those lines, the Niners roster is set for training camp.

The Niners depth chart looks quite a bit different than it was at this point a year ago. Nick Bosa will look to his right and see three new starters. Fred Warner will have two new players lining up next to him. We’ll see at least one new starter in...

Playing specific techniques along the 49ers defense should go a long way in Mykel Williams progressing as a rookie

The San Francisco 49ers had their highest draft pick in the first round since 2021. Expectations are sky-high for Mykel Williams, as the 20-year-old edge rusher walks into a situation where he’ll not only be expected to learn on the fly but produce at a level high enough that the Niners don’t miss Leonard Floyd.

ESPN’s Benjamin Solak covered a little bit of everything, from names to know to schedule features to bold predictions for the upcoming 2025 regular season. Solak...