San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan speaks during a news conference after the 49ers defeated the Los Angeles Rams 30-23 in an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
49ers sign former Packers RB Patrick Taylor
Taylor had been with Green Bay for the last four seasons, seeing most of his playing time as a blocking back and special teamer.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the San Francisco 49ers have signed former Green Bay Packers running back Patrick Taylor to a one-year contract. Taylor had previously been one of two players who were on the Packers’ 2023 roster who remained unsigned in free agency. This leaves just safety Rudy Ford as the lone Green Bay free agent on the open market — aside from the released David Bakhtiari.
Taylor signed with the Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2020, though, he essentially took an injury redshirt season as a rookie due to being placed on the non-football injury list at the start of training camp that year. He was able to practice with the team for 21 days during the 2020 season, but he was never activated from that list.
Over the next three seasons, Taylor played in 34 games for the Packers, recording 65 carries for 261 yards and a touchdown on the offensive side of the ball to go along with 14 receptions for 69 yards. In total, he played 322 offensive snaps — with 226 of those coming in the 2023 season — along with 276 special teams reps.
Notably, Taylor was a quality pass protector, which provided the team with a third-down option once AJ Dillon went down in 2023 with a broken hand. Taylor was often moved off-and-on the practice squad during his Packers career, but from Week 12 through Week 17 last season, due to several injuries at the position, he played a six-game stretch where he commanded between 20 and 32 snaps per game on offense.
On special teams, the big body (6’2”, 217 pounds) running back was able to help on the kickoff unit and punt protection unit as a tight end-like body.
Green Bay certainly had the opportunity to re-sign Taylor, but likely didn’t because of the bodies they already have at the position. All of Josh Jacobs, AJ Dillon, Emanuel Wilson and Ellis Merriweather are listed with a weight of at least 220 pounds, meaning that Taylor’s big body attributes no longer stood out in the position group.
