49ers make a switch at punter, signing Thomas Morstead and cutting Mitch Wishnowsky

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers made a switch at punter on Wednesday, signing veteran Thomas Morstead and cutting Mitch Wishnowsky after six seasons in the role.

The switch at punter is one of several made this offseason by the 49ers to overhaul a special teams unit that struggled last season, leading to the firing of coordinator Brian Schneider.

Brant Boyer was hired after spending the previous nine seasons in that role with the New York Jets and has now brought in a punter and a kicker he worked with in the past. San Francisco signed kicker Greg Joseph earlier this month to compete with Jake Moody.

The 39-year-old Morstead spent the past two seasons playing for Boyer with Jets after spending most of his career with the New Orleans Saints. He averaged 47.2 yards per punt last season with a 40.7 yard net average.

He has averaged 46.8 yards per punt with a 41.5 yard net average in 255 games. He was a second-team All-Pro and made the Pro Bowl in 2012 for New Orleans.

Wishnowsky was a fourth-round pick by San Francisco in 2019 and was one of the better punters in the league at pinning opponents deep before a back injury sidelined him for the final eight games last season. He ranked third out of 38 punters with at least 150 attempts since 2019 with 45.2% of his punts getting downed inside the 20.

He averaged 45.6 yards per punt with a 40.7 yard net average in 92 games. He averaged 45.2 yards per punt last season with his 36.3-yard net average ranking last among 34 punters with at least 20 attempts.

San Francisco also signed linebacker Chazz Surratt to a one-year deal and waived linebacker DaShaun White to make room on the roster.

Surratt was drafted in the third round in 2021 by Minnesota and spent the past three seasons with the Jets where he played for both Boyer and current Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.

Surratt had 18 tackles on defense and 10 more on special teams last season.

Front office addition

The 49ers also announced that the team has brought back Ethan Waugh as a personnel executive.

Waugh spent 18 seasons with the 49ers before leaving in 2022 to take over as assistant general manager in Jacksonville. He served three years in that role before being let go after this past season.

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By JOSH DUBOW
AP Pro Football Writer