Pettis Signs, and San Francisco Adds Another Name to a List That Keeps Growing

The 49ers signed Dante Pettis, a move that fits the pattern I've been tracking since mid-September: the front office finding a body, any body, to fill a receiver room that has been losing personnel faster than it can replace them. Pettis is a former second-round pick who had a brief moment of relevance in San Francisco years ago before bouncing around the league. He knows the building, which is something.

What he is not is a solution. When I noted Brandin Cooks' promotion last week, the receiver room was still short. It is still short now. The depth chart at wideout — Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins, Will Pauling — is not a group built to carry a passing game through a full season, and Pettis arriving does not change that math in any meaningful way.

The 49ers have been patching this position since before camp opened. Mike Evans came in to be the headliner. Brandon Aiyuk's situation remains unresolved. Kittle's Achilles recovery is the biggest variable of all. Adding Pettis is the front office acknowledging the problem exists; it is not the front office solving it.