The San Francisco 49ers on Sunday had a largely uneventful day trimming their roster down to the requisite 53 players, but there were two players among their list of cuts that raised eyebrows.
San Francisco released veteran long snapper Jon Weeks and veteran punter Corliss Waitman. We marked both players down as locks to make the team because the 49ers have neither another long snapper nor another punter on the roster. By the time the dust settled after Sunday's 3:00pm Pacific Time deadline, the 49ers didn't have a player at those two essential special teams positions.
While the most optimistic person might be hoping the 49ers don't envision punting or kicking any field goals or extra points this year, the real reason for their releases comes
down to roster gymnastics.
Weeks and Waitman are both vested veterans which means they hit unrestricted free agency upon their release. That's key because the 49ers didn't have to get either of them through waivers where they'd risk losing them.
The reason the 49ers let them go was to create two additional roster spots for players who can now either go on IR or be released/waived if another more enticing player is available on waivers or in free agency. Releasing Weeks and Waitman offers additional flexibility for San Francisco's roster.
Key to all this are the IR rules since that's largely what these two releases had to do with.
Under the new NFL IR rules up to two players can be placed on IR with return designations at or before final cuts. Any player who is placed on IR without making the 53-man roster and without receiving a return designation are done for the season.
The 49ers used their two pre-cut IR return designations on offensive lineman Austen Pleasants and wide receiver Christian Kirk. Any other player who was going to go on IR and return had to make the 53-man roster. That's where Weeks and Waitman come in.
By releasing that duo the 49ers opened roster spots for players who are destined for IR. Once those two players are placed on IR, their roster spots will open and the 49ers can bring back their long snapper and their punter.
There are a couple of other vested veterans who could be on track for a return to the 53-man roster once the 49ers make their IR moves, but Weeks and Waitman stand out in particular because they're specialists without backups on the roster. While it looked a little odd on cutdown day, their absences will be remedied well before the 49ers board a plane to Australia for their Week 1 opener vs. the Los Angeles Rams.
More 49ers: Biggest takeaways from 49ers final cuts and initial 53-man roster
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Explaining the 49ers' very odd pair of roster moves on cutdown day
