49ers roster preview: It’s now or never for Jacob Cowing
We haven’t seen Jacob Cowing catch a pass since 2024. The 41-yard pass against the Chiefs in Week 7 of his rookie year feels like an eon ago. He was on the field for 175 snaps that season, mixed between wide receiver and returner. He was a good one. One kickoff return was 32 yards. Multiple punt returns went for double-digits. The fact that Cowing began the season as the starting punt returner tells you how the coaching staff felt about his ability with the ball in his hands. The allure of Cowing is tantalizing. You can throw him a screen, use him down the field, but also capitalize on his speed on intermediate routes. There’s a place for Cowing in Shanahan’s offense any year. The problem is that the last time we saw him, he was sharing the field with Ronnie Bell , Jordan Mason , Chris Conley , Eric Saubert , and a No. 14 wearing Pearsall. The roster is a little different in 2026, and the 49ers still don’t know what they have in Cowing beyond offseason platitudes. Last offseason, Shanahan said Cowing “put in some of the most work that anyone did over the offseason.” This spring, Kyle said, “I was really excited how Jordan and Jake came back. You could tell they came back; it wasn’t just healthy. You could tell they’ve been putting work in. They’ve come here, to me, to play and work.” If every 49ers player were to line up in the end zone and race to mid-field, my money would be on Cowing being the first to cross the 50. He has another gear, and you could see it in OTAs when he was behind the secondary multiple times. Age: 25 Experience: 2 accrued seasons Height: 5’8 Weight: 175 pounds Cowing has two years remaining on his rookie deal. His base salary is $1.075 million in 2026, and he’ll receive $132,177 of his prorated signing bonus. If the 49ers wanted to move on from Cowing, they’d lose his signing bonus in dead money, but save his base salary in cap savings. Cowing hurt his hamstring in OTAs and training camp as a rookie. Then he returned and had another setback in the form of a shoulder injury. Last July, Cowing sustained a serious hamstring strain on the first day of training camp. Then not only did he re-injure it, but he also fully pulled his hamstring during the rehab process. That caused the 49ers to shut him down and place him on the season-long IR. The 49ers toyed with the idea of activating Cowing toward the end of the season, but Shanahan ultimately said it would be unrealistic for him to play . Cowing told reporters that he has addressed his injury issue and that it’s a thing of the past. But history isn’t on his side, and he’ll need to prove he can make it through a training camp before the 49ers can rely on him. Per Sports Info Solutions, 63% of Brock Purdy ’s pass attempts last season came 10 yards or under. While that may fit some narratives, that is not the kind of quarterback Purdy wants to be. He wants to live in the intermediate portion of the field and occasionally uncork it deep. In 2023, his short passes were in the 50th percentile while he targeted the intermediate part of the field 27% of the time. Purdy’s intermediate attempts dipped to 21% last season. That, to me, is not a Purdy stat. That’s a 49ers receiver stat. You’re not going to design an offense that runs routes between 12 and 18 yards when your wideouts consist of Kendrick Bourne and Jauan Jennings . The “swirl” routes were crossed out of the playbook because there were no vertical threats without Pearsall. Below, Cowing is the wideout in motion against Christian Gonzalez —one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL — running a swirl route: Last year, most cornerbacks were squatting on those routes without fear of a vertical threat. You cannot do that with Cowing. And it’s not just stretching the field vertically. Cowing’s addition would allow the 49ers to use him on deep crossing routes where he can use his god-given ability to run away from cornerbacks. That was on full display during OTAs. Cowing would be a couple of steps [... truncated ...]