The 49ers in the last two weeks have lost two of the four safeties on their 53-man roster. Now they’re making some in-house additions to their practice squad to provide depth in the back end of the secondary.
With safety Talanoa Hufanga done for the year with an ACL tear and safety George Odum dealing with a biceps tear that landed him on IR and will likely end his season, San Francisco on Monday added safety Erik Harris and cornerback Kemon Hall to their practice squad. In a corresponding move to clear a spot they released offensive lineman Henry Byrd.
Harris, 33, has played in 91 games with 43 starts since 2016. Between 2018 and 2021 with the Raiders and Falcons he had substantial roles on defense, but he’s been a major special teams contributor throughout his career. If he winds up suiting up for San Francisco it would be on special teams where Odum was a stalwart.
Hall is less experienced than Harris at just 26 years old with only two NFL seasons under his belt. Across 18 games with the Chargers in 2021 and 2022 he played 334 special teams snaps. That’s also where he figures to be a potential contributor for San Francisco.
Tayler Hawkins, a second-year undrafted free agent, is the other safety on the 49ers’ practice squad. He’s been with the team all of the last two years and has yet to make his debut.
