49ers Re-Signing TE Jordan Matthews, Releasing WR Bennie Fowler

Mike Garafolo reports that the 49ers are re-signing TE Jordan Matthews, marking yet another stint for the veteran in San Francisco.

Matthews announced that he is converting to tight end to prolong his NFL career and recently had a workout with the New York Jets.

Matthews has put on 30 pounds and was working with the coaching staff at Louisville to make the transition. His previous playing weight was around 215, so that would put him at about 6-3 and 245 which is a functional size for an NFL tight end. 

The veteran receiver has had stints with the Eagles and 49ers the past couple of seasons but has played in just five games and caught four passes in that time. 

Matthews, 28, is a former second-round pick of the Eagles back in 2014. The Eagles traded Matthews and a 2018 third-round pick to the Bills in return for CB Ronald Darby in August of 2017. 

Matthews played out the final year of his four-year, $4,949,269 contract before signing a one-year contract with Patriots worth up to $1.7 million. Unfortunately, the Patriots released Matthews during the preseason with an injury settlement and he then returned to the Eagles. 

From there, Matthews signed a one-year, $1.8 million deal with the 49ers in 2019. He returned to the Eagles for a brief period but has been on and off of the 49ers’ roster ever since.

In 2020, Matthews appeared in two games for the 49ers but was not targeted and did not catch a pass. 

Eric Branch notes that in a corresponding move, the team is releasing veteran WR Bennie Fowler.

We had him included in our Top 100 Available 2021 Free Agents list.