The 49ers are cutting ties with running back Khalil Herbert, according to Adam Schefter, closing the book on a stint that barely got started. San Francisco signed the veteran back on a one-year deal just two weeks ago, and now he's already looking for his next home.
49ers are releasing veteran RB Khalil Herbert.
Herbert isn't some journeyman nobody's heard of. The Bears took him in the 6th round back in 2021 out of Virginia Tech, and he carved out a real role in Chicago before bouncing to the Bengals, Colts, Seahawks and now the 49ers. Over his career he's put up right around 1,957 rushing yards and another 316 through the air, the kind of resume that gets a guy a look every summer but doesn't guarantee a roster spot.
He actually got run last week in the preseason opener against Tennessee, logging 6 carries for 18 yards and hauling in both his targets for 35 receiving yards. Not a bad line for a guy fighting for a job, but it wasn't enough to survive final cuts logic in August.
The move reportedly comes down to depth, not performance. San Francisco is described as satisfied with its health and numbers in the backfield, even though that room has been banged up for weeks. Christian McCaffrey's workload situation has been the story of training camp all preseason, and any hint of him trending healthy makes a depth piece like Herbert expendable fast.
For a team that's leaned on backfield-by-committee football for years, cutting a veteran two weeks after signing him isn't shocking so much as it is a signal. The 49ers clearly like what they've got in-house enough to pass on paying for outside insurance, at least for now. Herbert, still just 28, will presumably get another call somewhere before Week 1 -- teams always need a phone-book of running backs once the injury reports start piling up in September.