Predicting 49ers' 53-man roster after 1st week of preseason games

49ers' Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

WR Brandon Aiyuk

WR Deebo Samuel

WR Jauan Jennings

WR Ricky Pearsall

WR Jacob Cowing

WR Trent Taylor

TE George Kittle

TE Brayden Willis

TE Eric Saubert

Two pretty big changes to this group. But first, the elephant in the room: Brandon Aiyuk.

Reports came out that the 49ers brass and their disgruntled receiver sat down and hashed things out and signs were starting to point toward Aiyuk staying in San Francisco.

Part of that comes down to Aiyuk rejecting a trade to either New England or Cleveland, two teams the 49ers were able to carve out trade parameters with a few days ago. The other part is that the Pittsburgh Steelers, the other major player in this scenario, doesn't appear to have the trade capital to make a deal work.

For the purposes of this exercise, Aiyuk is staying, mostly because it seems like the outcome that is most likely for 2024. Beyond that, who can say, but with the 49ers not wanting to do anything to make themselves worse for this season, Aiyuk remaining a Niner makes the most sense.

The rest of the wideout group is the same, save for veteran Trent Taylor. He is here because second-year receiver Ronnie Bell hasn't exactly grabbed the opportunity to be the team's primary punt returner by the horns, and the Niners need a steady presence back there.

As for the tight ends, the addition here is primarily because the 49ers released veteran Logan Thomas on Friday, leaving the door open for others to step through it.

For now, that door is being propped open while Brayden Willis and Eric Saubert, who looks like the quintessential Kyle Shanahan blocking-first tight end, stand in it. There are opportunities for Cameron Latu and UDFA rookie Mason Pline to make some noise here, but they need to show up soon.