49ers almost got cut Kendrick Bourne before his 2nd season

Kendrick Bourne left the 49ers this offseason after carving out a nice four-year career in San Francisco. The club has had a difficult time replacing him this offseason, but they almost had to replace him much sooner.

Bourne, an undrafted rookie in 2017, played sparingly in his first year. He caught 16 balls for 257 yards in 11 games for a bad 49ers club. He broke out in his second year thanks in part to some injuries ahead of him on the depth chart. It turns out those injuries were the only reason he made the team in the first place.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan relayed the story while discussing the team’s current WR group during his press conference after Thursday’s practice:

I mean, Bourne didn’t have the best camp and he was on the outside looking in. And then Jalen was hurt and Trent Taylor got hurt. So, we kept Bourne, but if everyone had been healthy, it would have been hard for Bourne to make the team. But we kept him because a couple of guys were hurt. Then Week 4, I’m expecting to get them back and the injuries are a lot worse for Trent and Jalen than we thought. And damn I’m glad I didn’t cut Bourne Week 1 because he ended up being our most consistent guy for the following two years. That’s the stress of injuries and trying to take care of these guys because you know how good they are, but you’ve also got to know what that final 53 means.

While this year’s receiving corps has yet to take shape, it’s worth noting how Bourne’s second year went and what he developed into.

He wound up leading the 2018 49ers in receiving with 42 receptions for 487 yards and four touchdowns in 16 games with eight starts. Bourne parlayed that into the third WR role on the 2019 club that went to the Super Bowl. He hauled in 30 catches for 358 yards and five touchdowns that season, and followed it up with career-highs in receptions (49) and yards (667) in 2020.

Bourne’s story is worth keeping in mind as the 49ers sift through their receiver depth chart in camp. He went from the roster bubble to an integral part of the receiving corps in the span of a couple weeks. If the 49ers find a player like him on this year’s roster, it’ll put what looks to be a thin group in a pretty good spot going into the year.