The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Cecil Shorts to a one-year contract on Tuesday, three days after the Houston Texans released him in the middle of his two-year contract. The Texans released Shorts due to injury and ineffectiveness in his one season with the team.
I mentioned Shorts’ release over the weekend because he had spent time with Blaine Gabbert in Jacksonville. It wasn’t a great run, but there was some knowledge between the two that could maybe be valuable for a San Francisco 49ers offense that has serious question marks at wide receiver.
We’ll get into the 49ers WR depth chart more tomorrow, but we know there are problems. Torrey Smith is the No. 1 receiver, and it would appear Quinton Patton and Jeremy Kerley will be No. 2 and No. 3. The team acquired Rod Streater on Saturday in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, and given his veteran presence, he could slot into some work fairly quickly.
The only other wide receiver option is rookie Aaron Burbridge. The 49ers got him some work in the slot during rookie minicamp, but he mentioned that he had primarily been working outside in training camp. The team did not add anybody in free agency, and Burbridge in the sixth round was the only draft pick spent on the position this year.
The 49ers practice squad includes Dres Anderson and Chris Harper, so those are two names to keep an eye on if the 53-man roster receivers struggle. But overall, it’s hard to get excited about the group. Maybe the 49ers never had a chance with Shorts, maybe Baalke is content rolling out the young guys and seeing what happens. I don’t really know right now, but again, it’s hard to get too excited about it.