Early Monday morning, Ronald Blair was linked to the Cleveland Browns. With Joe Woods and Chris Kiffin there, that rumor made sense. According to Ian Rapoport, the 49ers have re-signed Blair to a one-year deal. Blair is coming off an ACL tear, but he was running on his Instagram just last week. Matt Maiocco said Blair was an important piece to San Francisco’s puzzle, and the 49ers wanted him back. Maiocco also mentioned that other teams were probably discouraged because they could not bring Blair into their facility any time soon to check on his medicals. I wonder if that had any impact on the Niners keeping Jimmie Ward.
This is a good signing for the Niners as they needed depth, and you won’t find a better backup/situational player than Blair. Hopefully, his recovery goes smoothly, and Blair is on the field in time for training camp. I‘d be curious to see if the 49ers play him inside more, or if that’ll be up to Arik Armstead and Nick Bosa. Bringing Blair back gives San Francisco much-needed versatility.