San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Trent Taylor has announced his retirement from the NFL. Drafted by San Francisco back in 2017, he had a solid rookie season but never quite lived up to the Wes Welker comparisons he earned as a young player due to his smaller size.
Believe it or not, Taylor was technically on the team last season even though he spent the whole campaign on IR.
There are three other players who were on the Niners last season who may have to retire as well if no one takes a chance on them and signs them.
Thomas Morstead
Punter Thomas Morstead did a nice job for San Francisco last season. He went a few games late in the year when he didn’t get much action, thanks to the offense heating up, but when he was called upon, he was pretty reliable at pinning the other team deep.
The 49ers decided to move on from Morstead by bringing in Corliss Waitman and Jack Bouwmeester to compete for the punter job this upcoming season.
Morstead is now 40 years old and has said this upcoming season will be his last, but if no team takes a chance on him, then he may be forced into retirement early.
Eric Kendricks
Linebacker Eric Kendricks went unsigned for most of last season, but San Francisco’s rash of injuries at linebacker forced it to give him a call. He ended up playing pretty well and had a great game in the playoffs against the Philadelphia Eagles.
He’s 34 years old now, though, so if he goes through another offseason where he doesn’t receive much interest outside of practice squad offerings, then he may decide that it is time to hang it up.
Yetur Gross-Matos
While Yetur Gross-Matos is only age 28, he’s been marred by injuries the last few seasons. He played in 11 games in 2024 with the Niners and played in eight games last season.
Edge rusher Bryce Huff surprisingly retired after the season at the age of 27, and Gross-Matos remains unsigned, so there’s a chance he, too, could choose to step away from the game. Word is that the lithium ion battery space is booming right now.
It is always sad to see an NFL player step away from the game they have played for so long, but these three players may see the writing on the wall and hang it up just like Taylor.
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