WR Austin Watkins clears waivers, reverts back to 49ers’ IR

The San Francisco 49ers gambled last year, waiving defensive back D.J. Reed and hoping he would go unclaimed and revert back to the team's NFI reserve list. Unfortunately, the Seattle Seahawks took advantage and added Reed to their roster.

Reed ended up appearing in 10 games with eight starts for the Seahawks last season.

On Tuesday, the 49ers waived wide receiver Austin Watkins, who broke his foot during the team's first preseason game. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Watkins is expected to miss six to eight weeks.

"We think he did it early in the game because that's what he ended up telling us after," Shanahan told reporters. "So, got a lot of respect for him for trying to play through that and stuff. I wish he would have told us a little bit earlier.

"I don't know if he knew it was broken or not, but you could see him on tape limping a little bit through that two-minute drive. Then when he got it checked after the game, [it showed him] having a broken bone, so it will be some time for him."

Watkins did clear waivers and reverted to San Francisco's injured reserve list, per Aaron Wilson.

The 49ers signed Watkins (6-3, 210), the cousin of Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Sammy Watkins, as an undrafted free agent out of UAB in May. He caught 98 passes for 1,642 yards and nine touchdowns in three seasons with the Blazers.