49ers roster 2023: Longest of long odds face TE Troy Fumagalli

The 49ers already had a crowded depth chart without Troy Fumagalli, and he'll need more than a lot of things to go his way to make the 53-man roster.

With all due respect to 28-year-old tight end Troy Fumagalli, he probably should have considered other teams to sign with in 2023 than the San Francisco 49ers.

Of course, the Niners inked the former Wisconsin Badger to a one-year deal back on March 8 and long before they selected two tight ends in this year's NFL Draft, Cameron Latu and Brayden Willis. Had Fumagalli known that, he might have opted not to put pen to paper on that particular deal.

At the same time, though, Fumagalli's expectations heading into the upcoming season have to be pretty low.

Prior to spending all of 2022 bouncing on and off San Francisco's practice squad, the 6-foot-6 and 248-pound tight end bounced around the league a bit and had stints with the New England Patriots, Houston Texans and the Denver Broncos, the latter being the location where he spent most of his time.

Including practical regular-season field time, too.

Known a bit more for his blocking prowess, Fumagalli is nevertheless buried deep toward the back end of the 49ers' tight end depth chart, which only got bigger in the wake of Latu and Willis' arrivals via the draft.

Tack on others like Charlie Woerner, Ross Dwelley and the All-Pro, George Kittle, and it's not hard to see why Fumagalli faces extremely long odds to make the Niners' 53-man roster.

What is Troy Fumagalli's contract with 49ers in 2023?

As is usually the case with back-end-of-the-roster players, Fumagalli isn't exactly costing San Francisco that much this season.

According to Over the Cap, he signed a one-year deal with the 49ers worth up to $940,000.

It has zero in guaranteed money, though, and the Niners could move on at any point without any dead cap hits, and that only provides further evidence to why he's a long shot to make the regular-season squad.

Will Troy Fumagalli make 49ers' 53-man roster?

It'd be one thing if Fumagalli was in serious contention for the No. 4 spot on the depth chart behind Kittle, Dwelley and Woerner. San Francisco has kept four tight ends rostered before, so that's not unusual.

However, grabbing Latu in Round 3 and Willis in Round 7 cast plenty of doubts on Fumagalli's chances. Now, he's competing against both rookies and will have a tough time convincing the 49ers they made a day-two mistake in the draft by grabbing Latu.

Read more: 49ers 2023 schedule is live, and we predicted every game right here

With Kittle entrenched, as long as Dwelley and Woerner make the cut, the Niners will likely choose Latu over Fumagalli.

This means the perennial camp body is likely to be just that this season again, someone who'll round out the depth chart into the preseason and may see some modest field time in the second half of those exhibition games.

Barring another stint on San Francisco's practice squad, though, that'll likely be the end of his 49ers tenure for now.

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