SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers added depth at linebacker by acquiring Deion Jones in a trade with the New Orleans for running back Zamir White.
The two sides reached the deal Sunday night, a person familiar with the trade told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade hadn’t been announced.
ESPN first reported the deal.
The trade came a week before teams are required to cut down their rosters from 90 players to 53 for the start of the season with both teams adding depth this week for players who weren’t expected to make the roster.
The 31-year-old Jones had been mostly a reserve player the past two seasons in Tampa Bay seeing most of his action on special teams. He spent his first six seasons in the NFL in Atlanta, earning Pro Bowl honors in 2017 and playing on 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris’ defense in 2020.
San Francisco doesn’t have a glaring need at linebacker where Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw are projected as two of the starters and several other players are in the running for a backup spot. But Nick Martin and Jalen Graham have been out of practice the past few days with an injury and the Niners could be looking for another body for practice this week and the final exhibition game on Thursday night against Las Vegas.
New Orleans was in need of help at running back after Alvin Kamara went down with a sprained knee this past week that could sideline him for a month.
White had 14 carries for 30 yards in two exhibition games for San Francisco but wasn’t needed any more with All-Pro Christian McCaffrey and rookie Kaelon Black returning to practice this past week following injuries.
White spent his first four seasons in Las Vegas and had 198 carriers for 736 yards with his production coming late in the 2023 season.
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