The San Francisco 49ers have officially announced the signing of kicker Matthew Wright to the team's practice squad. In a corresponding move, the team has released running back Brian Hill from the practice squad.
ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported news of Wright's signing on August 31.
Kicker Jake Moody is dealing with a right quad injury. Although, the 49ers are optimistic that their rookie kicker will be available for Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"I'm feeling optimistic [Moody will] be ready for Week 1, but if he's not, we're not going to jeopardize him," head coach Kyle Shanahan said last week. "We'll go with the practice squad kicker (Wright) and make sure he's (Purdy) ready for Week 2."
The 49ers Communications staff provided the following rundown.
Wright (5-11, 174) originally entered the NFL after signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent on April 29, 2019. Throughout his career, he has appeared in 23 games with the Steelers (2020 & 2022), Jacksonville Jaguars (2021) and Kansas City Chiefs (2022) where he connected on 40 of his 46 field goal attempts (87.0%) and 35 of his 37 extra point attempts (94.6%).
In 2022, Wright appeared in two games with the Chiefs and four games with the Steelers and went 15 of 18 on field goal attempts and made each of his 15 extra points. Wright signed with the Carolina Panthers on August 8, 2023, and was later released by the team on August 26.
A 27-year-old native of Lancaster, PA, Wright attended the University of Central Florida for five years (2014-18), where he appeared in 52 games and connected on 55 of 71 field goal attempts (77.4%) and 210 of his 213 extra point attempts (98.5%).
Hill (6-1, 216) originally signed a one-year deal with the team on August 21, 2023. He was released on August 29 and signed to the team's practice squad the following day.