It's not often that bottom-of-the-roster churn moves bring something of note, but the San Francisco 49ers might have bucked that trend with their move on Monday morning.
Per Dan Duggan, New York Giants reporter for The Athletic, the Niners are signing former G-Men cornerback Nick McCloud to the practice squad:
CB Nick McCloud, who was cut by the Giants last week after refusing to take a pay cut, is signing with the 49ers’ practice squad, per source. McCloud joins a contender with elevations to the active roster likely for the strong special teamer.
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) November 11, 2024
While McCloud does have some starting experience, starting five games in New York (logging a single pass defensed), he's unlikely to see the field at cornerback, given the form of Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green, unless Green's toe/foot injury that caused him to leave Sunday's game versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers early turns out to be more serious.
it's more likely the 49ers are looking at him (as Duggan says) as a practice squad elevation to work on the special teams unit.
Throughout his four-year NFL career, McCloud has logged almost 700 snaps on special teams and has vast experience playing the gunner position in particular.
One player this might affect is McCloud's compatriot at both cornerback and special teams: second-year pro Darrell Luter Jr.
Nick McCloud's presence endangers Darrell Luter Jr.'s spot on 49ers roster
Whether by bad luck or incompetence, the two plays that stick in the mind of most San Francisco fans when it comes to Luter Jr. are both key special teams miscues. The most recent was, of course, being blocked into returner Jacob Cowing in Week 10, causing a key fumble which led to a game-tying touchdown drive for Tampa Bay.
Most egregiously, though (and perhaps most memorably), Luter also committed a similar sin against the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl last February, causing a third-quarter turnover which set off a downhill roll of momentum that, sadly, the 49ers never seemed to recover from.
To that end, it's perhaps no surprise the Niners may be looking for an upgrade on various special teams units.
Nor is this the only example. It's only a couple of weeks ago the 49ers were working out a handful of punters, casting doubt on the future of Mitch Wishnowsky, while kicker Jake Moody's up-and-down day against Tampa Bay in Sunday's game drew the ire of Deebo Samuel as well as the entire fanbase.
It's a poor sign for Luter, who has already been inactive in a few games this season. He's singularly failed to crack the cornerback depth chart (he even now seems to be behind Rock Ya-Sin, who entered the game on Sunday when Renardo Green exited), which leaves special teams as his sole route to playing time.
If Luter is unable to do that with the required efficiency, he might not last much longer on the roster.
While it's never nice to see a young player on the outs, one suspects it's a simple equation for San Francisco: raise the floor of the special teams unit from it's current abhorrent level to barely average, and the team gets better almost immediately.
It might help the team have a few less nail-biters, too.
Perhaps this is the first sign of ruthlessness in an attempt to turn the unit around.