49ers Sign Converted Quarterback 2 Weeks After Cutting Him

Getty 49ers TE Logan Thomas

Few NFL players have had a more interesting journey to a 10-year career as a pro than Logan Thomas, who was signed but cut by the 49ers a little more than two weeks ago. But he’s back now, having re-signed with the team on Friday to fill out the tight end depth chart.

The re-signing of Thomas, who was first signed to a $1.1 million deal in June, was announced by the team, which made a corresponding cut in the defensive backfield. “The 49ers have re-signed TE Logan Thomas to a one-year deal. The team also waived/injured S Tayler Hawkins,” according to the official Twitter/X account of the 49ers.

Bringing back Thomas more than a week before cut-down day is an indication that the 49ers intend to keep him, likely on the 53-man roster, though possibly as a practice-squadder. The team might fear him being poached by a rival if he is on the practice squad, but since no one rushed to sign Thomas after he was released on August 9, there is some assurance that he would not get another offer.

As it stands, the 49ers’ depth chart at tight end has George Kittle at the top, with Eric Saubert as the backup. Thomas is now a factor for the third spot.

Logan Thomas Was a 4th-Round Pick — at QB

The fact that the newest 49ers signee has established himself as a steady veteran tight end—and has been for quite some time—would have been a surprise a decade ago. After all, he was a star quarterback in college, playing four seasons for Virginia Tech and throwing for 9,003 yards and 59 touchdowns, plus 1,370 yards rushing.

Oddly enough, though, is that his success as a quarterback came after he’d been converted to the position by the Hokies—he arrived in Blacksburg as a tight end, standing 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds. But Thomas was a fourth-round pick of the Cardinals as a quarterback in 2014, only appearing in four games.

His NFL.com scouting report read, “Outstanding size, stature and strength — towers over the line, has natural throwing lanes from the pocket and is able to make plays in the grasp. Athletic — can climb the pocket, escape and run for the sticks. Load to bring down. Generates easy velocity with a quick, compact release and can make all the throws.”

49ers Were His Only Offseason Offer

But after flaming out in Arizona, Thomas bounced around practice squads before having a tryout with the Lions in 2016. It was then that a coach asked him to try catching some passes. They liked what they saw, and Thomas’s conversion to tight end began then. He played for Buffalo and Detroit before his breakout year with Washington in 2020, when he caught 72 passes for 670 yards.

After that, he earned a three-year, $24 million contract to stick with Washington, the culmination of an odd seven-year journey. He said the offer from the 49ers was his only offer this summer.

“There was a lot of doubt during those times,” Thomas told the San Francisco Chronicle of making the conversion. “But I was making plays in the pass game so I was like, ‘All right, I know I’ve got this part down. Now if I can figure out how to block, there’s something there.’ But there was that: ‘Can I make the team?’ When cuts came, they were always trying to bring somebody in who had played tight end for a while.

“It wasn’t until I signed with Washington in 2020 that I didn’t have that worry about what’s going to happen. Until now.”