49ers are Waiving Trey Sermon

Trey Sermon is officially being waived by the 49ers after making the initial final roster cuts.

There it is.

The move that I have been expecting to occur has become reality. Former third-round selection Trey Sermon is being waived by the 49ers, per Field Yates of ESPN. Sermon had initially survived the final roster cuts, but with concerns at interior offensive line, the 49ers elected to pick up guard Blake Hance who last played with the Browns.

It only took just over a year into Sermon’s NFL career with the 49ers for them to waive him. The selection of Ty Davis-Price this year in the third-round was an immediate indicator that Sermon was going to be expendable. Sermon now joins Joe Williams as highly drafted running backs that the 49ers whiffed on. The crazy part with their desire to select these running backs with third- or fourth-round picks is that they’ve endlessly proven to find late-round value at the position. 

Even undrafted free agents have excelled under Kyle Shanahan’s zone running scheme. The system requires running backs to not dawdle at the line of scrimmage. You have to be one cut and go, so decisiveness and downhill running is nonnegotiable if you’re a running back who wants to fit in the offense. Sermon just could never develop into that. To make matters worse, the 49ers traded up to draft him with a couple of fourth-round picks they sent to the Rams. So much draft capital for nothing. Where the 49ers are fifth-round champions, they’re pitiful when it comes to drafting running backs before day three of the draft.

While the 49ers have unsurprisingly waived Sermon, I’m sure they’ll look to put him on the practice squad if he passes through waivers. But some team could easily claim him and end any chance of a return. The fact that the 49ers are okay with that tells you all you need to know about how they feel about him. Sermon now joins JaMycal Hasty as another running back the 49ers have waived. Those two were the correct players to waive as undrafted free agent Jordan Mason has looked solid. 

Hopefully the 49ers learn from this experience.