Updated Aug. 28, 2026, 4:53 p.m. PT

The San Francisco 49ers have wrapped up their 2026 preseason and now the work begins on creating the 53-man roster they’ll carry into the regular season.

This season has the added curveball for the 49ers of going to Australia for a Week 1 matchup with the Los Angeles rams which truncates the timeline they’re working in to maximize their roster. They’ll have the same cutdown deadline as the rest of the league, but because their travel plans for their season opener include leaving Wednesday, Sept. 2, the team has only a couple of days to figure out how to navigate injured lists, the waiver wire and free agent signings.

Before they can do any of that, though, they have to trim their roster from the 90-player offseason limit to the 53-player maximum for the regular season.

Follow along with their cuts here:

Patrick Taylor release doesn’t count for 90-man roster cutdown

The 49ers on Friday released the veteran running back after reaching an injury settlement with him. He suffered an undisclosed injury before their second preseason game and was placed on IR, effectively ending his season with San Francisco. By going the IR route, the 49ers removed Taylor from the 90-man roster. He was replaced by Khalil Herbert. By releasing Taylor the 49ers simply made him a free agent and didn’t get any closer to reaching the 53-player limit.

Your fantasy edge starts here Sync your league for custom roster advice, projections, and tools to win your matchups every week.NFL roster cut deadline

Deadline: Sunday, August 30 at 3:00pm Pacific Time

San Francisco won’t practice again until after the Sunday deadline so their evaluation period is over. They have all of the information they need to start making moves.

49ers injury updates after preseason finale

The 49ers had two injuries crop up in Thursday night’s game vs. the Las Vegas Raiders. Tight end Brayden Willis suffered a concussion and rookie cornerback Ephesians Prysock is dealing with a shoulder injury that could make him an IR candidate. It looked like Prysock was on track to make the 53-man roster, but now the team may need to place him on IR with a return designation before he makes the initial roster.

Going into cuts the 49ers still have running back Isaac Guerendo and defensive end Mykel Williams on the PUP list. If the 49ers don’t activate them before cuts, they’ll be on the PUP to start the season where they’ll be required to miss at least four weeks before returning to game action.

There are a slew of question marks on the 49ers’ 90-man roster which made our final 53-man roster projection a difficult one.

49ers 2026 preseason resultsWeek 1, Aug. 13 | Tennessee Titans 19, 49ers 13Week 2, Aug. 20 | 49ers 41, Los Angeles Chargers 17Week 3, Aug. 27 | 49ers 18, Las Vegas Raiders 1249ers 2026 schedule

Here is San Francisco’s season schedule.

Thursday, Sept. 10: 49ers at Los Angeles Rams (Melbourne, Australia)Sunday, Sept. 20: 49ers vs. Miami DolphinsSunday, Sept. 27: 49ers vs. Arizona CardinalsSunday, Oct. 4: 49ers vs. Denver BroncosSunday, Oct. 11: 49ers at Seattle SeahawksMonday, Oct. 19: 49ers vs. Washington CommandersSunday, Oct. 25: 49ers at Atlanta FalconsSunday, Nov. 1: ByeSunday, Nov. 8: 49ers vs. Las Vegas RaidersSunday, Nov. 15: 49ers at Dallas CowboysSunday, Nov. 22: 49ers vs. Minnesota Vikings (Mexico City)Sunday, Nov. 29: 49ers vs. Seattle SeahawksSunday, Dec. 6: 49ers at New York GiantsSunday, Dec. 13: 49ers vs. Los Angeles RamsThursday, Dec. 17: 49ers at Los Angeles ChargersSunday, Dec. 27: 49ers at Kansas City ChiefsSunday, Jan. 3, 2027: 49ers vs. Philadelphia EaglesSaturday/Sunday, Jan. 9/10: 49ers at Arizona Cardinals

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