The San Francisco 49ers have experienced quite a few injuries at the wide receiver position in training camp and they signed two free agents on Thursday to help pick up the slack. According to the 49ers' official website, they have signed wide receivers River Cracraft and Kevin White to one-year deals. Both players worked out for the team earlier this week.
White was a former No. 7 overall pick made by the Chicago Bears in 2015. The former first-team All-Big 12 wideout missed his entire rookie year due to a fractured leg that required surgical insertion of a steel rod, and the same leg was again fractured after playing in only four games in 2016 -- landing him on injured reserve and ending his sophomore season. In 2017, he fractured a shoulder blade in the season opener, and landed on injured reserve for the third time in three seasons. The Bears chose to decline White's fifth-year option for 2019, and he hasn't made a 53-man roster since.
Cracraft is a return specialist who saw some time with the Denver Broncos. He was an exciting athlete during his time at Washington State, but has struggled to find a home in the NFL. In three years with the Broncos, he appeared in nine games and registered one reception for 44 yards. In 2019, he saw action in one game with Denver prior to being waived by the team on September 24. He was later signed to the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad on December 24, 2019 where he spent the remainder of the season. He was then waived earlier this offseason.
Deebo Samuel, Jalen Hurd, Richie James and 2020 first-round pick Brandon Aiyuk are currently dealing with injuries, and the latter is the only one who is 100 percent expected back for the season opener at this time. In order to make room on the roster for the additions of Cracraft and White, the 49ers released fellow wide receiver Jaron Brown and waived/injured defensive lineman Jonathan Kongbo.
