The 49ers just added a new offensive lineman to their team.
Veteran center Matt Hennessy just signed a two-year deal with the 49ers. To make room for Hennessy on the 53-man roster, they placed Trent Williams on Injured Reserve with an ankle injury.
The Williams news comes as no surprise — head coach Kyle Shanahan said last week that Williams would be shut down for the rest of the season. But the Hennessy news is a surprise. It’s unusual to sign anyone to a two-year deal at this time of the year. Hennessy comes from the Falcons’ practice squad, so he’s a developmental player at best and a part-time fill-in player at worst.
The Falcons originally drafted Hennessy in Round 3 of the 2020 NFL Draft. He started 22 games for them during his career, including all 17 games in 2021. Since then, he has suffered multiple knee injuries and hasn’t been the same.
Perhaps the 49ers think that if they commit to Hennessy for two years instead of one, they’ll give him the time he needs to make a full recovery and he’ll become a starting-caliber center for them in a year. They did something similar with Jake Brendel a few years ago. They signed him to the 53-man roster with the intention of slowly grooming him to become the starting center.
Now Brendel is one of the worst starters on the team — he’s aging and the 49ers need to replace him. I imagine they’ll draft a center, but if they don’t, at least they have Hennessy.
