While a potential George Kittle trade is the roster move that San Francisco 49ers fans are keeping an eye out for as the NFL Draft approaches, the team still has to conduct business as usual. And that has included some under-the-radar transactions that went down on Tuesday night.
The so-called "back end" of the roster matters a lot at this time of year. Having roster spaces open for incoming draft picks and potential undrafted free agent signings is crucial, so any practice squad type player who does get signed is clearly someone the team places some value in.
The 49ers have shown how much they value four of these players by inking their new deals right before the draft.
49ers Make Four Signings Official
The 49ers have officially signed one-year, minimum-salary contracts with Evan Anderson, Alex Barrett, Jalen Graham and Brayden Willis. These four were all tendered as "exclusive rights" free agents, meaning they essentially had no options for 2025 but to sign the minimum contracts they were offered.
The San Francisco 49ers today announced that DL Evan Anderson, DL Alex Barrett, LB Jalen Graham and TE Brayden Willis have signed their one-year exclusive rights tendered contracts.
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) April 22, 2025
These are generally guys who will just fight for training camp and practice squad spots, but not always. Anderson, for example, played over 300 snaps for the 49ers in 2024. Barrett, Graham and Willis each also played over 100 snaps, though the majority of those came on special teams.
None of the four is older than 25 years old, and so it makes a lot of sense to give them roster spots over unproven, undrafted rookies. The 49ers have had the opportunity to see all of these guys in action, and they understand exactly what they have on their hands.
The fact that all four have already been genuine contributors on Sunday and are still young enough to have plenty more upside as they develop is an ideal combination.
You're never expecting guys like this to suddenly bloom into Pro Bowlers, but these are nice solid signings at a time of year where fans tend to get carried away with their love of rookies instead.