10 players who won’t be on 49ers 53-man roster come Week 1
By Peter Panacy
No. 4: 49ers wide receiver Marcus Johnson
Prior to the 2022 draft, San Francisco added two veteran depth wide receivers in Malik Turner and Marcus Johnson, neither player having wholly carved out an impressive NFL career but niche/journeyman-style contributors nonetheless.
And both players have speed, too, making each one a potential commodity to deploy as a downfield threat in head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
All that was before the 49ers added former SMU wide receiver Danny Gray in Round 3 of the draft, though. Assuming Gray’s development comes along as expected, Shanahan finally having a deployable vertical threat within the system should round out the bulk of the Niners’ pass-catching corps.
Thereby putting both Johnson and Turner on the bubble.
The difference could simply come down to whichever player costs the least in dead money, if cut. According to Over the Cap, San Francisco would owe Turner $300,000 in dead money, whereas Johnson would cost $250,000 in dead money instead.
The 49ers won’t keep both Turner and Johnson, meaning the one with less financial obligations should be on his way out.