The 49ers might have hit a home run with their latest free agent addition. They’re finalizing terms on a contract with tight end Logan Thomas, giving them a legitimate receiving threat to backup and play alongside George Kittle.
San Francisco has long searched for a pass catching TE to give the club more optionality with their multiple TE sets, but outside of Jordan Reed who only played in 10 games, they’ve not been able to find that real receiving threat. Players like Ross Dwelley and Charlie Woerner were fine blocking options, but neither instilled any kind of fear in a defense that forced them to honor a potential pass out of a multiple TE formation.
Now the 49ers might have that player. Thomas, a 32-year-old converted quarterback, has carved out a long career as a TE that includes two seasons in Buffalo, one in Detroit and four in Washington after the Cardinals picked him as a QB in the 2014 draft. He was out of the league for two seasons before catching on with Buffalo in 2017 as a TE.
Since then he’s accumulated 219 catches for 2,002 yards and 16 touchdowns. Last year in Washington he posted 55 catches for 496 yards and four touchdowns in 16 games. By comparison, Dwelley and Woerner have a combined 55 catches for 638 yards and five touchdowns in their careers.
Thomas isn’t the blocker either of that duo are which may limit his playing time in certain instances, but he’s not such a disaster that he’s unplayable.
Instead of going into the 2024 season with a couple of massive question marks behind Kittle on the depth chart the 49ers will instead have a proven veteran with bonafide pass-catching chops. Not only will that give them insurance behind Kittle, but it also opens up a slew of new doors for how the 49ers can operate with more than one TE on the field.
