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 to make up for lost time by training with Brock Purdy in the offseason. He made good on those plans, meeting up in Jacksonville, Fla., where Purdy works on his throwing fundamentals each year, as well as their native Arizona.”
Five intriguing 49ers storylines to watch as stress-free OTAs begin
“Ben Bartch, Spencer Burford, Nick Zakelj, Matt Hennessy and rookie Connor Colby could be in the mix to compete for the starting role.
The 49ers also have a major void at backup offensive tackle after the departure of Jaylon Moore to Kansas City as a free agent.
Andre Dillard, Nicholas Petit-Frere and Austen Pleasants are the top candidates to serve as the backup to left tackle Trent Williams and right tackle Colton McKivitz.”
Jennings set up for next 49ers contract extension, but when?
“One prominent NFL agent who represents wide receivers told NBC Sports Bay Area that Jennings’ next contract could pay him anywhere from $11 million to $15 million per season.
“Think Jakobi Meyers,” the agent said.”
49ers waive longtime punter Wishnowsky after Morstead signing
“New special teams coordinator Brant Boyer is reunited with Morstead, who handled the punting chores for the New York Jets the past two seasons. Morstead, 39, is a 16-year NFL veteran who has appeared in 255 regular-season games.”
Why the 49ers believe they’ve drafted the NFL’s next great little man (paywall)
“Our defense is very multiple. That nickel spot, just like the 49ers, is asked to do a lot. We are an exotic pressure defense, particularly in passing defense. When you have a guy who can blitz and he has great ball skills, great coverage skills, you can do a lot more within the defense. So Upton played a huge role in that, so it allowed us to have a lot of different packages, do a lot of different things with him.
We’re bringing him on a blitz, bluffing him, and dropping him into coverage. We’re asking him to match up man on the best receiver — the NFL, your best skill players are your best cover guys. Upton has excellent coverage skills. Excellent. You can match him up with a marquee receiver and say, yes, he can play man coverage. So for a defensive coordinator, that helps you a ton. It gives you an extra [quarterback] hitch and you can do different things from a pressure standpoint, all those kinds of things.
The second thing you can do with Upton: His blitzability, his durability, his aggressiveness, his knack to get after the quarterback, his timing with the pressures when he is coming on a blitz — not showing it and giving it away. He does a great job with his eyes. You have man eyes and zone eyes. A lot of DBs can’t stand it, they want peek back and look at that quarterback. Well that quarterback is playing that game, too, right? So if you’re showing zone eyes or man eyes, he’s going to know. Upton knows how to play the cat-and-mouse game.”