The San Francisco 49ers return to football activities on Monday with the start of the offseason workout program. Players have begun making their way back to Santa Clara, and that includes kicker Corey Acosta. He has been working out in Tennessee recently, and posted this on Instagram as he prepares to return to the Bay Area.
The 49ers signed Acosta to a reserve/future contract back in January. He had originally joined the team last June as an undrafted free agent. He connected on all four of his field goal attempts in the preseason, but was waived on August 31. He got tryouts with the New York Giants and New York Jets during the season, but it appears he did not land anywhere.
Acosta faces another tough competition this spring and summer. The 49ers re-signed kicker Phil Dawson to a one-year deal that appears to be fully guaranteed. Acosta had a solid preseason last year, but the team kept Dawson on the roster. The 49ers have the cap space to release Dawson if they so chose, but that seems unlikely.
It is worth noting that Dawson's deal does not include a signing bonus, so if the 49ers were particularly impressed with Acosta, they could very well try and trade Dawson at some point and take no cap hit. I don't expect that to happen, but you never know. And again, if Acosta can sufficiently impress, maybe it's worth going younger at kicker as part of the re-building effort. And for Acosta, another strong preseason could land him a job elsewhere.
Last month, he had this to say following the change to the kickoff touchback rule:
*Immediately receives text from kicking coach saying start working on high, well-placed kicks inside 5yd line... https://t.co/gxUvfm25eb
— Corey Acosta (@Corey_Acosta) March 23, 2016