San Francisco 49ers release Anders Carlson

The San Francisco 49ers released kicker Anders Carlson from their practice squad on Tuesday.

The 49ers signed Carlson on Oct. 15 after losing kickers to injuries as they made tackles on kickoffs on successive Sundays.

As a practice-squad elevation, Carlson made all five of his field-goal attempts and 3-of-4 extra-point tries while kicking for San Francisco in a 28-18 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 20 and 30-24 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 27. Carlson made a career-long 55-yard field goal against Kansas City.

Coming off their bye week, the 49ers return to action on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

When he signed with San Francisco, Carlson had been a free agent since Aug. 27, when the Green Bay Packers released him after he served as the team’s kicker in the 2023 season.

A third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, kicker Jake Moody sustained an ankle injury in a 24-23 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 6. For its next game, San Francisco brought in Matthew Wright to kick, and he sustained a shoulder injury in a 36-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Oct. 10.

Moody was spotted at San Francisco’s practice on Monday.

Carlson joined the Packers as a sixth-round selection from Auburn in the 2023 NFL Draft. He displaced 16-year veteran Mason Crosby as Green Bay’s kicker and became the first rookie in league history to make a field goal in 17 regular-season games. But with the playoffs included, he also had the most misses on extra points with six and on total kicks with 13 in the NFL in 2023.

In his first NFL season, Carlson made 27-of-33 field-goal attempts and 34-of-39 extra-point tries in the regular season and 2-of-3 field-goal attempts and 7-of-8 extra-point tries in two postseason games.

In 2024, Green Bay had an offseason/training camp/preseason kicking competition between Carlson and Greg Joseph, who had been the Minnesota Vikings’ kicker for the previous three seasons. But when the time came to set the regular-season roster, the Packers cut Carlson and Joseph and claimed Brayden Narveson after he had been waived by the Tennessee Titans. Naveson has since been replaced by veteran Brandon McManus.