The San Francisco 49ers‘ experiment with Deion Jones is already over.
San Francisco is releasing the veteran linebacker, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on August 30, just five days after the 49ers officially acquired Jones from the New Orleans Saints in exchange for running back Zamir White.
The timing alone makes Jones one of the more eye-catching casualties of the 49ers’ final roster cuts. But his exit becomes even harder to ignore considering what happened during his brief audition for San Francisco: Jones was one of the team’s best players in its preseason finale.
Deion Jones Made Strong Final Impression Before 49ers Release
Jones didn’t get much time to convince the 49ers he belonged.
He played only 15 defensive snaps against the Las Vegas Raiders on August 27, but Pro Football Focus gave him an 84.6 overall grade, the highest mark of any 49ers defender in the game. He also earned an 81.3 coverage grade, another team high, after breaking up the only pass thrown in his direction.
That makes Sunday’s decision particularly interesting.
San Francisco knew Jones was fighting for a roster spot when it acquired him. The trade came immediately before the NFL’s final cutdown, and the 31-year-old was joining a crowded linebacker competition rather than being brought in as a presumptive starter.
Still, the sequence is striking: trade for Jones, give him 15 defensive snaps, watch him produce one of the strongest performances on the defense and release him three days later.
It suggests the decision involved considerably more than Jones’ performance against Las Vegas.
The 49ers already have Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw atop their linebacker depth chart, while younger options including Jaden Dugger, Tatum Bethune and others have been competing for jobs behind them. Special-teams value and longer-term roster considerations also become especially important with the final few spots on a 53-man roster.
One projection from the San Francisco Standard before cutdown day had Jones on the outside looking in even before his release was reported.
49ers-Saints Trade Lasted Less Than a Week for Both Players
There is another strange wrinkle to the Jones move.
The 49ers announced on August 25 that they had acquired Jones from New Orleans for White. Jones had only signed with the Saints earlier in August, while White had joined San Francisco on August 12.
Now neither player appears to have survived cutdown weekend with his new club.
The Saints are also releasing White, according to an August 30 report, bringing an unusually quick end to both sides of the player-for-player swap.
In practical terms, the deal became an exchange of short-term preseason auditions. New Orleans got a closer look at White as it dealt with uncertainty in its backfield, while San Francisco evaluated Jones amid its linebacker competition.
Neither evaluation produced a roster spot.
For Jones, the next question is whether his brief showing with San Francisco creates another opportunity elsewhere. The former Atlanta Falcons second-round pick and 2017 Pro Bowler has appeared in 128 regular-season games and made 91 starts during his NFL career.
He may not have lasted a week with the 49ers, but his final 15 defensive snaps gave the rest of the league something recent to evaluate.
49ers Make Abrupt Deion Jones Decision 5 Days After Saints Trade