49ers make Austin Collie, Lavelle Hawkins moves official by waiving two players

The San Francisco 49ers have made the moves official. The 49ers PR department announced they have signed wide receivers Austin Collie and Lavelle Hawkins. In order to make room for the two receivers, the team waived center Sherman Carter and punter Colton Schmidt. I'm a little surprised they released Schmidt as camp leg, but that's what they did.

In looking at Collie and Hawkins, the reasons for their signings could vary to some degree. My first thought was that this was a sign about the team's thoughts about A.J. Jenkins. While I am still not overly excited by what we've heard about Jenkins thus far, it is possible this move is at least partially independent of Jenkins performance.

Prior to today, the 49ers 90-man roster included ten wide receivers. Of those ten, four (Jenkins, Patton, Osgood, Williams) have not practiced this week. Although six receivers is plenty during the regular season, that really is not enough bodies for a preseason game. Anquan Boldin will likely only play a series or two, leaving the team with only five receivers. In the preseason finale, I suppose that could be enough, but for the start of the preseason? The team needed more warm bodies.

Maybe Collie and/or Hawkins is able to secure a roster spot with this performance. And maybe the team is looking to give A.J. Jenkins a kick in the butt. I simply think the reasons for these moves could be more than just because of A.J. Jenkins (as I know some people do think). Tre9er went into some more detail on this issue in our podcast earlier today. It came before the signings, but is still applicable.