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49ers release Adrian Martinez and hand the QB3 job to Kurtis Rourke
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- 49ers release Adrian Martinez and hand the QB3 job to Kurtis Rourke
The San Francisco 49ers are releasing quarterback Adrian Martinez and keeping Kurtis Rourke as the third quarterback on their roster, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported. The move settles a competition that ran all summer and gets San Francisco one player closer to the 53-man limit due Sunday.
Rourke has attempted 14 passes in the NFL. All of them came on the night of Aug. 13 at Levi's Stadium, when he started the preseason opener against Tennessee and completed 12 of them for 101 yards before fracturing three ribs in the second quarter. He was taken to a hospital after struggling to breathe and was discharged the same night.
Nov 9, 2024; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke (9) talks to a reporter after the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Martinez threw 47 passes this preseason, starting with the 30 he attempted in relief that same night. He finished the Tennessee game 16-of-30 for 159 yards and was sacked twice, then went 8-of-17 for 57 yards with a touchdown, a rushing score and two interceptions in the win at the Los Angeles Chargers on Aug. 21. Rourke did not play again, and San Francisco is keeping him anyway.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan talks to the media during the NFL League Meetings on March 30, 2026, at Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix.
Does this make Mac Jones easier to trade?
The 49ers drafted Rourke in the seventh round in 2025 knowing that January knee surgery would erase his rookie year. He spent the season on the non-football injury list, and although the club opened his practice window in December, it never activated him.
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The 2024 season at Indiana is still the most recent full body of work on him: 3,042 yards, 29 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 69.4 completion rate across 12 games, second-team All-Big Ten honors and the Jon Cornish Trophy as the top Canadian in college football, all of it played on the knee he had repaired that winter.
Aug 24, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets quarterback Adrian Martinez (15) hands off to running back Israel Abanikanda (25) during the first quarter against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
San Francisco was open to moving Mac Jones this offseason and reportedly wanted at least a second-round pick. Nobody paid it. Kyle Shanahan sounded disappointed in April when the first round of the draft passed without an offer, and Jones stayed on a contract paying $3.25 million in salary and bonuses this year.
Jones started eight games in 2025 while Brock Purdy dealt with turf toe, went 5-3, and completed 69.6 percent of his throws for 2,151 yards with 13 touchdowns against six interceptions, a run that had the San Francisco Chronicle calling him perhaps the best backup quarterback in the league. Purdy has missed 11 games across his three full seasons as the starter, which is the argument for keeping Jones and has been all along.
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Rourke's fractured ribs cut short the only audition that could have changed that calculation and Shanahan said this week the rookie should return to practice shortly.
The post 49ers release Adrian Martinez and hand the QB3 job to Kurtis Rourke appeared first on Gridiron Heroics .
