The San Francisco 49ers continued the roster tinkering on Tuesday with a move under center. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, quarterback Josh Johnson was released by the team:
Releasing Johnson leaves the 49ers with three quarterbacks on their current roster. Those include Nate Sudfeld, Josh Rosen and Jimmy Garoppolo.
In addition, the Niners also have No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance to consider, but at this time, he’s still one of the team’s three unsigned rookie draft picks.
According to the 49ers official website, San Francisco now has 87 players under contract without Johnson on the roster. However, the team’s website has yet to add wide receiver Andy Jones to the roster. Jones was signed by the Niners on Tuesday, a move which was reported just moments before Johnson’s release.
In May, the NFL approved having 90-player roster limits heading into training camp once again in 2021, per Pelissero on May 26. Due to COVID-19 last offseason, the league slimmed that training camp number down to 80.
Johnson, who signed with the 49ers multiple times in his career, has never appeared in a regular season game with the team. Most recently, he signed a reserve/future contract in January with the 49ers after spending 2020 on the team’s practice squad.