The San Francisco 49ers needed an emergency signing after Jake Moody’s ankle injury, and it only took them about two days to do so.
Now, the 49ers will rely on Matthew Wright when it comes to their kicking duties. At least for a few weeks, that is. The team announced that the veteran kicker had signed a one-year deal on Tuesday, October 8.
“The San Francisco 49ers announced they have signed K Matthew Wright to a one-year deal,” the team’s site reads.
Moody had been off to an exceptional start to the season, as the Niners consistently called his name with 14 field goal attempts. He made 13 of them before suffering his high ankle sprain during a tackle against the Arizona Cardinals.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan updated his injury on October 7, but there wasn’t much info on how long or how severe the injury is.
“Jake Moody does have a high ankle sprain, expect time out and stuff, no update yet on that,” Shanahan said.
In terms of a replacement, Wright does have a solid amount of experience and should be able to do an average job in Moody’s stead.
Matthew Wright’s NFL Career
Wright got his first NFL regular season chance with the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2020 season. He was a perfect 4-4 on field goal attempts, and also made all 7 of his point-after attempts.
The next year, he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. His stint with the Jags was the longest of his career, as he made 14 appearances with the AFC South squad. While he made 21 of his 24 attempts, he did miss two extra-point attempts during that season.
In 2022, Wright played as an emergency stand-in for both the Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The former Central Florida leg made 15 of his 18 combined attempts between the two squads.
In 2023, Wright came in for a single appearance with the Carolina Panthers. Wright took one attempt during his appearance, which he missed.
49ers Had Kicking Competition
In the same conference as Moody’s injury update, Shanahan also explained that the 49ers were hosting a fleet of kickers to try out for the job. That is the standard process when a team doesn’t have an ideal replacement ready.
“Yeah, I think we’ve got four guys coming in later today,” Shanahan said, before saying he’s not aware of their identities. “Don’t know. I don’t have their names. I know that’s what the guys are working on now, just finishing this game and getting started on all the Seattle stuff in the short week. So I know those guys are scrambling in. I think they’ve got four guys coming, but I didn’t get their names.”
While Shanahan was coy with the names on the tryout list, they are now available. However, there were actually five names to tryout rather than just four according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Besides Wright, the 49ers also brought in Randy Bullock, Riley Patterson, Anders Carlson and Matt Coghlin.
If anything, the fact that Wright had to beat out several other veteran kickers will hopefully bode well for his chances in San Francisco.
