49ers sign Kassim Osgood

The San Francisco 49ers have continued their run on special teams players. Around the same time Pro Football Talk reported wide receiver Kassim Osgood had signed with the 49ers, the man himself posted this on Vine.

Osgood is listed as a wide receiver, but in reality he spends most of his time on special teams. As a receiver he has 44 receptions for 749 yards over the course of a ten year career with San Diego, Jacksonville and Detroit. He might get some training camp snaps at the bottom of the wide receiver depth chart, but make no mistake, this is another special teams addition.

This move comes a day after the 49ers signed safety Raymond Ventrone. While he too will potentially get some training camp snaps with the safeties, he was also brought in for his special teams skills. As I said yesterday, and as we all know fairly well, the 49ers coverage units struggled in 2012. They had moments of strength, but this was not the same unit that excelled in 2011. The 49ers let Blake Costanzo walk after 2011, and then traded Colin Jones before the 2012 season, and those two moves were among the reasons the units struggled in 2012.

Now the team is adding considerable depth to compete in training camp. Ventrone was recognized as a special teams ace in Cleveland, and Osgood has three Pro Bowl appearances (2006, 2007, 2009) as a special teamer. The 49ers have some solid special teamers in place, but this will create valuable competition. Guys like C.J. Spillman, Michael Wilhoite and Anthony Dixon will face plenty of competition from this new crop that includes Osgood, Ventrone, Dan Skuta and rookie Nick Moody.

There is no word yet on who the 49ers released to make room for Osgood.

Fooch's update: The 49ers waived Joe Hastings to make room for Osgood.