The 49ers made a flurry of roster moves Tuesday to trim their 90-player roster down to 82 players as the start of training camp nears.
The 49ers' roster now stands at 82 players, which does not include receiver/return man Richie James, who was placed Monday on the reserve/COVID list. Once James is cleared from the COVID list, he will go on active/non-football injury due to his fractured wrist and count against the team's roster limit.
The 49ers on Tuesday placed the following players on the active/physically unable to perform list:
DL Ronald Blair III (knee)
WR Shawn Poindexter (knee)
C Weston Richburg (knee)
DL Kentavius Street (knee)
DL Jullian Taylor (knee)
The 49ers placed the following players on the active/non-football injury list:
DB D.J. Reed Jr. (pectoral)
WR Deebo Samuel (foot)
The 49ers waived:
LB Joey Alfieri
CB Jermaine Kelly
S Derrick Kindred
OL Ray Smith
QB Broc Rutter
The 49ers waived/non-football injury:
WR Chris Finke (hamstring)
The 49ers waived/non-football illness:
DL Willie Henry Jr.
With our All Access Daily newsletter, stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams!
SIGN UP HERE [49ERS INSIDER PODCAST: Listen to the latest episode]
Players on the physically-unable-to-perform or the non-football injury lists count on the active roster. Those players are allowed to come off of those lists to practice at any point in camp after passing a physical.
Samuel underwent surgery on June 18 to repair a Jones fracture in his left foot. He sustained the injury during an offseason workout with many of the 49ers’ skill-position players, including Jimmy Garoppolo, on the artificial surface field at Brentwood Academy outside of Nashville.
General manager John Lynch said Tuesday during an interview on KNBR that Samuel could miss games at the beginning of the regular season. If Samuel remains on NFI list at the start of the regular season, he would not be eligible to practice or play in the first six weeks of the season.
San Francisco 49ers
Find the latest San Francisco 49ers news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Blair continues his rehabilitation from a torn ACL he sustained in November against the Seattle Seahawks. In nine games, Blair had 21 tackles and three sacks while serving as a backup edge rusher behind Nick Bosa and Dee Ford. The 49ers re-signed him to a one-year contract in the offseason.
[RELATED: 49ers expect Kittle to report on time while working on contract]
The NFL and NFLPA agreed last week to 80-man rosters for the bulk of training camp -- down from the usual 90-player rosters of the past. There are no preseason games this summer. Coach Kyle Shanahan said recently he believed it was necessary in the past for teams to carry 90 players because of the physical strain placed on players during camp.
Teams are allowed to cut to 80 players by the end of the day Tuesday or they can wait until Aug. 16. Teams that wait to reduce to 80 must utilize split-squad structures within the building. A team that chooses the split-squad approach can reduce to 80 at any time before August 16 and then merge into one unit.