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The 49ers have claimed a player off waivers who made headlines over the past few weeks.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the 49ers were awarded defensive end Takkarist McKinley on Wednesday.
McKinley, 25, is a former first-round pick of the Falcons at the 2017 NFL Draft. McKinley is more recently known for causing a stir in order to be released by the Falcons after the team refused to trade him before the deadline. That episode appeared to end when he was cut and claimed off waivers by the Bengals last week.
However, upon joining his new team, McKinley failed his physical and was once again released this week. He’ll now join San Francisco – pending a physical.
Prior to the recent NFL trade deadline, McKinley wanted to be dealt by his former team but Atlanta turned down offers for the former first-round pick. Around that point, McKinley took to social media to express his negative feelings toward the Falcons.
One of McKinley’s messages posted on Twitter claimed that the Falcons had an offer of a second-round pick for him in 2019, but they turned it down.
The No. 26 overall pick out of UCLA has 17.5 sack in his career with two forced fumbles but hasn’t lived up to his first-rounder hype, partially due to injury. The Falcons declined the fifth-year option on his rookie contract and he’s scheduled to be a free agent following 2020.
On Tuesday, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that the team planned to put another claim in for McKinley on Wednesday after doing so last week when the Bengals were awarded him. At the position, it’s been a turnstile for the 49ers this season.
Nick Bosa and Dee Ford both went out for the season with injuries in the first two weeks. Since then, the Niners have added other players to the position as well, including Ziggy Ansah and Jordan Willis. They also signed Dion Jordan and Kerry Hyder before the year.
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