3 remaining free agents who have connections to 49ers
By Peter Panacy
49ers Free-Agent Target No. 3: Tight End Jordan Reed
This would have made much more sense earlier this offseason before the Niners added Georgia tight end Charlie Woerner in the NFL Draft. But all those reports about San Francisco being interested in a No. 2 tight end to complement the All-Pro, George Kittle, lend credence to the idea the team could have considered someone like former Washington tight end Jordan Reed.
Reed, 30 years old, suffered the latest of numerous concussions just before the 2019 regular season, which forced him to miss all of the year and puts his immediate NFL future in doubt. That said, it’s hard to ignore the 952-yard, 11-touchdown season he had back in 2015 and wonder whether or not he could be capable of producing even a shadow of those numbers in the near future.
More importantly, Reed has direct ties to Kyle Shanahan. After all, when Washington selected Reed in Round 3 of the 2013 NFL Draft, Shanahan was the team’s offensive coordinator and certainly had a small say in whether or not Washington should bring aboard the former Florida product.
It’s not likely Reed would be a high NFL free agency priority for San Francisco. But if one of the depth tight ends behind Kittle completely fizzles out or suffers and injury, one could figure Reed would be on the short list of players the 49ers call in an emergency.