The San Francisco 49ers took a step towards ending the drama surrounding the long snapper position as they announced the release of Ryan Pontbriand. The former Cleveland Browns long snapper was brought in to provide some competition to Brian Jennings. It sounds like Pontbriand struggled with snaps during this week's minicamp, which cut short his opportunity to come into training camp and maybe push Jennings.
The 49ers still have Kyle Nelson as a guy who can handle long snaps, but he may have the longest odds of anybody when it comes to making the 49ers roster. Brian Jennings is pretty much the best in the business and it would be stunning to see the 49ers go in a different direction at this point. He's 35 years old, so he won't be around forever, but he also plays a role that buys him more time.
This does leave the 49ers with a roster spot open if they elect to add somebody between now and training camp. For example, if Brian Banks impresses in his workout next week, the team is in a position to get him a contract to come to training camp.