49ers waive 2 players to make room for Shakel Brown and Chris Hubbard As deal was officially reached
The corresponding move was to waive Corey Luciano and Earnest Brown IV
The San Francisco 49ers officially announced the signings of defensive tackle Shakel Brown and offensive tackle Chris Hubbard to one-year contracts. The corresponding move was to waive defensive lineman Earnest Brown IV and offensive lineman Corey Luciano. That puts the Niners back under the 90-man roster limit.
Luciano spent time on the practice squad last season and was elevated to the active roster in November. Luciano appeared in two games with the 49ers after originally signing with the team as an undrafted free agent in May 2023 after the NFL Draft. Brown IV signed with San Francisco on a futures contract this past February.
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The 49ers must’ve kept a close on on Shakel Brown. He was in Santa Clara for a pre-draft visit. As was the case with the 2024 draft class, Brown is on the older side for a prospect entering the NFL. He’s 25 entering his second season.
Hubbard is not only competing for a roster spot, but playing time. This will be Hubbard’s 11th NFL season. It’s worth noting that he has playoff experience as well. He started six postseason games. Last year, he started the first nine games of the season with the Tennesee Titans. We’ll reach out to Titans fans for more on Hubbard.
There are not all that many big areas of need ahead of the 49ers opening training camp in July. But one that will be worth monitoring is the offensive line, which improved over the course of last season but is still not quite up to the level of the rest of the 49ers offense. This week, the team added depth to the unit, bringing in 33-year-old veteran Chris Hubbard, who has played 10 seasons in the NFL with three different organizations.
Hubbard signed a one-year deal, as reported by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media added that the deal is worth $1.375 million. Fowler termed Hubbard a “swing option,” writing on Twitter/X:
“Source: The #49ers are signing veteran offensive lineman Chris Hubbard. Hubbard started nine games for Tennessee last season before going to IR. Healthy now. Gives San Francisco a viable swing option.”
Hubbard had gone onto the IR last season with an arm injury after having earned the starting right tackle job in training camp.
Chris Hubbard Has Been a Veteran Mentor
Though Fowler tabs him as a swing option, there is a chance that Hubbard could do the same this year in San Francisco as he did last year in Tennessee, because the oft-criticized Colton McKivitz manned the right tackle position last year. Before his injury, Hubbard rated a Pro Football Focus grade of 69.0, which was 34th out of 81 tackles. McKivitz rated a 65.2, which was 47th in the NFL.
