The San Francisco 49ers made a roster move on Tuesday, releasing defensive lineman Datone Jones. The 49ers originally signed Jones on October 24, 2017. He appeared in each of the past three games, registering six tackles.
The decision comes a day after the 49ers claimed defensive tackle Sheldon Day off waivers from the Jacksonville Jaguars. The 49ers had a free roster spot to replace Day, so this is only tangentially related to that. Jones was likely released because the team expects Tank Carradine back from injured reserve this week. They would have used the spot occupied by Day, but a chance to acquire another talented defensive lineman was too good to pass up.
When Tank returns, there will be some competition between him, Solomon Thomas, Ronald Blair, and Leger Douzable for end work. Carradine and Thomas are the two potential starters once they are fully good to go, but in the meantime, there will be some rotation. As for the interior defensive line, Day will serve as a backup, and we’ll see how Thomas and Blair rotate in over the remaining six weeks.