4:07pm: Snead’s three-workout week will lead to a deal. The 49ers will add Snead to their 90-man roster, Wilson tweets. They will be his sixth NFL team. A former UDFA out of Ball State, Snead initially caught on with the Browns and Panthers before making a splash with the Saints. He has since played with the Ravens and Raiders before most recently circling back to the Panthers to close out the 2021 season.
3:26pm: Willie Snead is finishing up a busy week, one ending with a third workout. After auditioning for the Texans and Cardinals, the veteran wide receiver is in San Francisco for a 49ers tryout, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets.
Snead, who worked out for the Texans on Tuesday and Cardinals on Thursday, has generated some late interest despite not having much of a role with the Raiders or Panthers last season. The longtime slot target split time with Las Vegas and Carolina in 2021, catching four passes for 38 yards. After working out Snead, the Texans chose to sign Chester Rogers, who also participated in that audition.
Other than Marquise Brown, Snead is the wideout with the longest ties to the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson-run offense. Snead spent three seasons in Baltimore, signing a Ravens RFA offer sheet in 2018 and re-signing — on a one-year, $6MM extension — in 2019. After leaving Baltimore last year, Snead signed a one-year Raiders deal worth just $1.1MM. The Raiders cut him midway through the season, leading the former Drew Brees auxiliary target to the Panthers’ practice squad.
Snead, 29, is long removed from his best statistical seasons — his first two years with the Saints, who rostered the former UDFA from 2015-17 — but may soon have a chance to play an eighth NFL season. The 49ers have Jauan Jennings alongside top receiver investments Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, and they also used a third-round pick on Danny Gray this offseason. The team signed ex-Steelers slot player/return man Ray-Ray McCloud and ex-Cowboy Malik Turner earlier this year.
The 49ers also worked out quarterback James Morgan, who has joined Snead in going through a busy travel schedule over the past several days. Morgan tried out for the Seahawks earlier this week, and the Green Bay native auditioned for the Packers recently as well. While Jimmy Garoppolo remains on the 49ers’ 90-man roster, he is not practicing with the team. Behind Trey Lance, the 49ers have Nate Sudfeld and 2022 Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy.