The San Francisco 49ers signed Xavier Smith to their practice squad on Wednesday, less than a month after he played against them as a division rival with the Los Angeles Rams. Another indication that the Rams’ offseason plans to get better on special teams has backfired, as the Rams waived Smith last week following an underwhelming performance as L.A.‘s punt and kickoff returner.
Smith will go down as “modern Az-Zahir Hakim” but for only the wrong reasons, as he muffed two punts against the Seattle
Seahawks in the 2025 NFC Championship game, the second of which being recovered by the other team.
Smith had a surprising 303 yards as a receiver in 2025, but Sean McVay obviously sees no-to-little potential in him on offense despite the Rams needing help at the position at various points of the season already. With Puka Nacua’s return in Week 4 against the Eagles, and Smith’s disappointing performances on special teams, it was more likely than ever that he would be a healthy scratch or get waived to make room for players like C.J. Daniels and Alex Bachman, the latter of whom being the team’s new return man.
Xavier Smith ranked 49th in average kick return yards (20.6) out of 50 qualified players.
He now joins a 49ers team that is constantly churning through options at receiver, including another former Rams player, Brandin Cooks. The 33-year-old Cooks made his 49ers debut in Week 4 and had one target with no catches.
Smith will start on the practice squad but could be a quick elevation as a returner. Current punter returner Jacob Cowing is averaging only 5.0 yards per return on five attempts.
They once said “X gonna give it to ya”, but once he gave it to the other team, he was gone.
