49ers Acquire Veteran LB Deion Jones from Saints in Player-Swap for Zamir White
San Francisco bolsters its defensive interior and special teams depth, reuniting a Pro Bowl playmaker with Raheem Morris while clearing space in a crowded, McCaffrey-led backfield.
Video Transcript
Late night player-for-player swap on Sunday ahead of the final week of NFL preseason.
The San Francisco 49ers acquired veteran linebacker Dion Jones from the New Orleans Saints in exchange for running back Zamir White.
This comes after Christian McCaffrey returned to practice following a brief absence for lower body tightness, rendering White expandable in a backfield that also includes Sincere McCormick, Kalel Herbert, and rookie Kaylon Black.
Jones, thirty-one, brings a deep history with San Francisco's leadership.
Selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round, number fifty-two overall of the twenty sixteen NFL draft out of LSU, Jones played his rookie season under Kyle Shanahan who was Atlanta's offensive coordinator at the time.
More importantly, Jones spent significant time developing under 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris in Atlanta, including the twenty twenty season w- season when Morris served as the Falcons defensive coordinator and interim head coach.
During his prime years in Atlanta, Jones was a hundred-plus tackle machine earning Pro Bowl honors in twenty twenty-seven-- twenty seventeen, excuse me.
Over his ten-year NFL career across stints with Atlanta, Cleveland, Carolina, and Tampa Bay, he has played in one hundred and twenty-eight games and had ninety-one starts, racked up a total of seven hundred and sixty-one tackles, twelve sacks, fifty-three passes defended, thirteen interceptions, five forced fumbles, and five defensive touchdowns.
The acquisition of Jones addresses two immediate needs on the San Francisco defense.
Number one, the inside linebacker at depth and injuries and the blitz and hustle protection.
The addition of an established veteran like Jones does send shock waves through the bottom linebacker depth chart, however.
The r- roster bubble inc- includes contenders like Tatum Bethune, Garrett Wallow, Luke Gifford, and Jalen Graham, who now face an even tighter crunch to make the fifty-three man roster.
For Zamir White, the trade opens up an opportunity in New Orleans, where Alvin Kamara is dealing with a knee injury.
For San Francisco, bringing in Dion Jones gives Raheem Morris a familiar veteran to solidify special teams and interior depth while opening the door for creative defensive alignments before final cuts for the fifty-three man.
