SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers released special teams standout George Odum on Saturday in the latest move to overhaul that unit.
Odum had been placed on the non-football injury list on Friday with a knee injury and now is off the roster entirely before the first training camp practice is scheduled for Wednesday.
Odum had spent the past three seasons with the Niners, leading them with 759 snaps on special teams and tied for the fourth-most special teams tackles in the NFL with 36 in that span.
Odum was a second-team All-Pro for San Francisco in 2022 but missed 11 games the past two seasons with injuries.
The Niners have made major changes on their special teams after struggles in 2024 led to the firing of coordinator Brian Schneider. Brant Boyer was hired to take over and has made changes at punter, with Thomas Morstead replacing Mitch Wishnowsky and long snapper with Jon Weeks replacing Taybor Pepper.
The Niners also brought in kicker Greg Joseph to compete with incumbent Jake Moody and several other players with extensive special teams experience including linebackers Chazz Surratt and Luke Gifford, tight end Luke Farrell and defensive backs Richie Grant, Siran Neal and Jason Pinnock.
The Niners placed several other players on injured lists Friday to start training camp, with all being eligible to be activated at any time. Receivers Brandon Aiyuk (knee) and Ricky Pearsall (hamstring), safety Malik Mustapha (knee), linebacker Curtis Robinson (knee), defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos (undisclosed) and offensive lineman Andre Dillard (undisclosed) are all on the physically unable to perform list.
Offensive lineman Ben Bartch (undisclosed) is on the non-football injury list.
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