Undrafted rookie running back Corey Kiner isn’t done with the San Francisco 49ers just yet.
Kiner had his impressive preseason derailed early in the second preseason game vs. the Las Vegas Raiders when he suffered what head coach Kyle Shanahan described as a bad high ankle sprain. That injury is expected to keep him out for more than a month.
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San Francisco waived Kiner with an injury designation to clear a roster spot when they added offensive lineman Michael Dunn and wide receiver Malik Knowles. The UDFA RB cleared waivers and reverted to the 49ers IR list because of the injury designation.
That leaves Kiner and the 49ers with a couple of options.
Kiner looked good in his handful of preseason snaps. He finished runs strong, showed good balance and flashed some wiggle in the open field. There was a non-zero chance he was going to factor into the backfield behind Christian McCaffrey in Year 1. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the 49ers want to retain him into next offseason where he can continue trying to climb the depth chart. They’ve had success with undrafted RBs in the past so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities they found another gem with Kiner.
On the other hand, the 49ers could also reach an injury settlement with Kiner that releases him from the IR and makes him an unrestricted free agent. Since he’s on IR with San Francisco he’ll be able to rehab and train at their facility, so given his prognosis of a month-plus absence an injury settlement isn’t likely to be reached any time in the near future.
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For now, the 49ers avoided having Kiner land with another club and any hopes they might have of keeping him beyond the 2025 season are still intact.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers roster: RB Corey Kiner returns after clearing waivers