The 49ers are Releasing Long Snapper Taybor Pepper

This is weird.

The 49ers are releasing veteran long snapper Taybor Pepper according to NBC Sports Bay Area's Jennifer Lee Chan. This release comes out of the blue. Pepper had a year remaining on his contract and never seemed to have any issues snapping the ball.

To replace Pepper, who's 30, the 49ers have signed 39-year-old former Houston Texans long snapper Jon Weeks to a one-year, $1.422 million contract according to Aaron Wilson. Bizarre.

Keep in mind, the 49ers recently fired their special team coach, Brian Schneider, and hired Brant Boyer to replace him. Perhaps Boyer prefers Weeks to Pepper, although it's strange to choose a 39-year-old over a 30-year-old.

It's also worth mentioning that Pepper got in an altercation on the sideline during a game last season with Deebo Samuel, who recently got traded to the Washington Commanders. Samuel yelled at kicker Jake Moody after he missed a field goal, Pepper yelled at Samuel in defense of Moody and Samuel put his hand on Pepper's throat. Now both are off the team. Coincidence?

In all likelihood, this move won't affect the 49ers. Weeks is a good long snapper who is a former Pro Bowler and was the Texans' longest-tenured player. Their head coach, DeMeco Ryans, probably recommended him to Kyle Shanahan.

But if Weeks struggles at all next season, we'll have to ask why the 49ers replaced a perfectly good 30-year-old long snapper with one who's near the end of his career.