The 49ers Place Ricky Pearsall on the Non-Football Injury List

This is extremely puzzling.

The 49ers have placed rookie first-round pick Ricky Pearsall on the Non-Football Injury List for undisclosed reasons. It’s possible he has a nagging injury from college which is forcing the 49ers to shut him down, but he participated in OTAs and minicamp just a few weeks ago. To be fair, he wore a blue non-contact jersey, but I assumed that was because he hadn’t signed his contract yet. He looked healthy and he practiced at full speed.

It’s possible that Pearsall injured himself recently while training for the upcoming season. If that’s the case, it’s possible the injury is minor and he’ll be off the NFI list in a few weeks. But if he’s not off it by the time the 49ers cut their roster down to 53 players, he’ll have to miss at least the first four weeks of the season.

It’s interesting that this news comes out the same day that Brandon Aiyuk reportedly requested a trade. The 49ers have been going through a tense negotiation with Aiyuk and have been unwilling to meet his demands. They feel they have all the leverage, which is why they drafted Pearsall in the first place. They want an insurance plan in case Aiyuk decides to sit out part of the season.

Now the insurance plan is injured, which means Aiyuk has more leverage than before. No wonder he requested a trade today. What better time to request one? If Pearsall misses all of training camp, the 49ers might have no choice but to give Aiyuk what he wants.

Stay tuned.