49ers activate Tank Carradine from injured reserve, waive Ray-Ray Armstrong

The San Francisco 49ers have activated defensive end Tank Carradine to the 53-man roster from injured reserve, the team announced on Saturday. Carradine has been practicing and this move was expected after the team waived linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong on Friday, a move that is now official.

Carradine was placed on injured reserve on Sept. 25 with a high ankle sprain. His recovery was a moving target at that point, and he’s getting back now in about as much time as most predicted. At this point, Carradine is one of the more intriguing players on the roster to me, because he finally seems to have found his primary position in Robert Saleh’s 4-3 defense.

At the same time, the 49ers are constantly churning the roster over and introducing new defensive linemen into the mix. Some of that has to do with injuries and some of that has to do with Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch casting a wide net, but ultimately, the 49ers have a lot of players they’re evaluating.

Former general manager Trent Baalke is also being purged from the roster, and while Carradine isn’t the last player he brought in by any stretch, he does represent one player many here on Niners Nation thought was a bust of a draft pick. Shanahan and Saleh seem to like him, and I think he’ll get a real chance at earning a contract extension over the final few games.

Armstrong was the backup linebacker when Reuben Foster went down with an injury, and his play wasn’t particularly good. The 49ers like the linebackers they have, so Armstrong — who was extended by Baalke in Deecmber — is now on the open market.