The San Francisco 49ers are banged up, and they’re bringing in reinforcements.
Injuries have gotten so bad for San Francisco that they were forced to cancel their upcoming joint practices with the New Orleans Saints. On Monday they officially announced the signing of wide receiver Robbie Chosen. In a corresponding move they waived WR Frank Darby with an injury designation.
Chosen has been in the NFL since 2016 when he was an undrafted rookie with the New York Jets. In 120 games across his eight seasons he has 379 catches for 5,082 yards and 30 touchdowns.
He doesn’t figure to be much of a factor in the 49ers’ final receiving corps. He’s played in 25 games with seven starts the last two years with the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers and Miami Dolphins. In those 25 games he has 24 catches for 408 yards and two touchdowns.
Chosen should get plenty of playing time in the preseason, however. WRs Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings aren’t likely to play much. WR Brandon Aiyuk still hasn’t suited up for camp, and WR Ricky Pearsall is dealing with an injury.
Darby was added by the 49ers due to injury problems at wide receiver, and he made it through a couple weeks before being let go. In their preseason opener, Darby had one catch for 33 yards. It was an impressive play where he made a catch over the middle and created yards after the catch.
By waiving Darby with an injury designation, he’ll revert to the 49ers’ IR if he clears waivers.
