The 49ers on Tuesday announced their first four “protected” practice squad players of the year. Offensive lineman Hroniss Grasu, wide receiver Kevin White, defensive end Dion Jordan and cornerback Dontae Johnson.
Under the new practice squad rules designed to mitigate some of the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, teams are allowed to “protect” up to four players from their 16-man practice squad roster each week.
Those “protected” players aren’t able to be poached off a team’s practice squad. If a “protected” player is not elevated to the active roster, he can sign an NFL contract with any club either after his team’s game or at 12:01am Eastern Time the next day – whichever comes later. If that player does get elevated to the active roster, he reverts back to the practice squad and can sign an NFL contract with any team beginning at 4:01pm Eastern Time on the first business day after his team’s game. Other clubs aren’t allowed to contact protected players until after his team’s game. “Protected” designations go into effect Tuesday at 4:00pm Eastern Time, except for the teams that played on Monday Night Football. Their designations go into effect at 4:00pm Eastern Time Wednesday.
For San Francisco the selections all make sense given their injury issues at some positions. Grasu can fill in at center if Ben Garland is unavailable after dealing with an ankle injury since training camp. White, Jordan and Johnson are all depth options at three positions where the 49ers are banged up.
At receiver they could be without both Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk the first week. At defensive end they only have three true edge rushers with Dee Ford, Nick Bosa and Kerry Hyder. Having Jordan gives them a little wiggle room in the event a player becomes unavailable between Tuesday and Sunday. Johnson knows San Francisco’s defense well and holds a similar role to Jordan where he gives some insurance in case something goes awry during the week of practice.