49ers place Chris Borland on reserve/retired list, waive/injured Chase Thomas

The San Francisco 49ers executed a pair of transactions on Monday. The team announced that Chris Borland has been placed on the Reserve/Retired list, and Chase Thomas was waived/injured. Both moves were expected and these are mere formalities. Both players were still on the 90-man roster. That group was at 82 (because of Borland technically remaining), but is down to 80 now.

Borland announced his retirement on March 16, citing concerns about head trauma. He remained on the 49ers offseason roster, but the addition of 10 draft picks and potentially eight or more undrafted free agents means it is time to clear roster space. Borland has said he would pay back 3/4 of his signing bonus ($463,077), which means the 49ers formally clear that space from the cap.

Chase Thomas tore his ACL earlier this offseason during a workout. Technically anybody can claim Thomas, but it seems highly unlikely anybody will do so. Normally if a player clears waivers as waived/injured, the team could then place him on injured reserve. However, in this case, Thomas hurt himself away from the team facility. I don't know if that means the team can plan him on the non-football injury list, or what exactly. We'll keep an eye on the details. The NFI list allows the team to choose not to pay a player. I don't know exactly how it works for offseason non-football injuries.