The San Francisco 49ers on Monday did some shuffling on their practice squad.
According to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco, the 49ers officially signed defensive end Sam Okuayinonu to their practice squad. In a corresponding move they released offensive tackle Sebastian Gutierrez.
The potential Okuayinonu addition was first reported by the Athletic’s Matt Barrows shortly after San Francisco released Okuayinonu from their initial 53-man roster. It’s not a huge surprise they wanted him back given their lack of depth at defensive end – a position of major importance on that side of the ball.
He joins Alex Barrett and Jonathan Garvin as internal depth options at the DE spot. San Francisco may rely on someone from that group in Week 1 if Yetur Gross-Matos’s knee injury pushes him out of action.
While the DE position is important, Gutierrez’s release is perhaps the more notable of the two moves because it may signal confidence that Trent Williams’s holdout will end before the season opener.
The 49ers have Jaylon Moore and Colton McKivitz on their 53-man roster, but no additional offensive tackle depth. Internally they had Gutierrez and Isaac Alarcon on the practice squad, but now Alarcon is the only offensive tackle depth they have and he’s an international pathway player who has yet to make his NFL debut.
It’s hard to imagine the 49ers will want to go into a season opener with no depth at OT. Perhaps they envision elevating Alarcon from the practice squad. International pathway players can be elevated up to three times per season. However, given where we are on the calendar and the team’s ongoing negotiations with Williams, the Gutierrez release could signal that the 49ers are getting their star OT back and bolstering their depth as a result.
San Francisco has a bonus practice on Tuesday before getting to work with their normal practice schedule Thursday.
