Tolzien makes 49ers as Raiders stay quiet
The 49ers released backup quarterback Josh Johnson and a raft of others Friday evening to settle on a 53-man roster.
The 49ers released backup quarterback Josh Johnson and a raft of others Friday evening to settle on a 53-man roster.
UPDATE 11:24 p.m. The Raiders have announced their final cuts. Veteran LB Aaron Curry on the physically unable to perform list until at least mid-October.
As the deadline for final roster cuts passed late Friday afternoon, teams all over the National Football League “trimmed the fat” off their rosters one last time before the regular season opens on September 5.
A strong final preseason game wasn’t enough for quarterback Josh Johnson, as he found himself the odd man out of the 49ers backfield Friday evening. San Francisco trimmed him and 20 others to settle on a 53-man roster.
The cuts mean second-year Scott Tolzien will remain the 49ers third quarterback.
While many teams made several last-day scratches to their rosters, Bay Area teams remained relatively quiet. Make that a double for Oakland, who didn’t report any final cuts as of the 6 o’clock deadline.
The Silver & Black cut 12 players from its then-87-man roster Monday August 27, the same day they acquired wide receiver/returner Roscoe Parrish from the rival San Diego Chargers.
They then claimed cornerback Coye Francies from the Seahawks the day before the two teams met for a preseason matchup in Seattle on Thursday.
Still no word on what the Raiders’ 53-man roster looks like.
Back on the chilly side of the Bay, however, the 49ers made final slashes on both sides of the ball. The team reported on Twitter they had cut loose with running back Rock Cartwright, wide receiver Brett Swain, along with a raft of others.
Cutting Cartwright comes just a week and a half after Yahoo! Sports did a piece on what a huge asset Cartwright was to the Niners’ special teams unit.
The choice to waive Swain, on the other hand, possibly had less to do with his performance in training camps and more to do with the lack of roster space for anymore wide receivers, Cody Ulm of SBNation said Friday.
This is the first time that the two Bay Area football teams did not meet up during pre-season play. The highly-coveted Battle Of The Bay was cancelled indefinitely after a double shooting took place outside of Candlestick Park in 2011.
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