The San Francisco 49ers are bringing back a couple of familiar faces ahead of the 2025 offseason, including a former Tampa Bay Buccaneer.
Russell Gage will be back in San Francisco, at least to start the offseason, alongside a few other additions. The 49ers announced the signing of four players to reserve/future contracts on January 7.
“The San Francisco 49ers announced they have signed OL Isaac Alarcon, WR Russell Gage, WR Isaiah Hodgins and T Jalen McKenzie to Reserve/Future contracts,” the team’s official site states. “All of the players, with the exception of Hodgins and McKenzie, finished the 2024 season on the team’s practice squad.”
Gage is the most prominent of the new signings, but has yet to make an impact in San Francisco after first joining the organization as a practice squad signing in November of the 2024 season.
But while Gage may not have gotten his opportunity just yet, he is a proven veteran who will be a name to watch through the offseason.
Gage Continues NFL Career in San Francisco
After playing his college ball at LSU, Gage entered the league with the Atlanta Falcons as a sixth-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft. However, Gage did not break through as a player right away.
In fact, he only caught 6 passes for 63 yards as a rookie. But he did gain traction in 2019, earning his first NFL start and bringing down 49 catches for 446 yards. That only set him up for a big 2020 campaign, which will be the kind of year he hopes to recreate with the Niners.
Gage caught 72 passes for 786 yards, scoring 4 touchdowns in the process. He finished second on the Falcons in receiving yards that season.
2021 was also impressive, as the 28-year-old took 66 receptions for 770 yards and four more TDs. That would be Gage’s last season for Atlanta, as he then tested free agency and linked up with the Buccaneers.
Gage caught 51 passes for 426 yards and 5 touchdowns, but his injury luck would take a turn for the worse. During Tampa Bay’s appearance in the Wild Card round that year, Gage suffered a neck injury that took him out of the game and also gave him a concussion.
Gage was looking to get back on the field with Tampa in the 2023 season, but tore his patellar tendon in training camp. He missed the entire season, and was released in March of 2024.
Other Additions from 49ers
Hodgins will join Gage in the WR group and also boasts a decent resume. The former sixth-round pick is entering his 6th in the NFL, and is looking for a fresh start after his time with the New York Giants came to an end.
Hodgins carved out a role with New York, starting 14 times over three years and totaling 593 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns on 56 catches.
Besides the new receivers, the 49ers also added to the offensive line with Alarcon and McKenzie. Alarcon entered the league out of Monterrey, Mexico as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program. He first joined the Niners in January of 2024, but did not get activated off of the practice squad this past season.
McKenzie is entering his third year as a pro after playing at USC until the 2022 NFL draft cycle. He has yet to make an NFL appearance, but has spent time with the Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans.
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