49ers waive safety to make room for an undrafted free agent from rookie minicamp

The San Francisco 49ers today announced they have signed defensive back Derrick Canteen to a three-year deal. To make room for Canteen, the team waived safety Quindell Johnson. It’s safe to assume that Canteen made an impression this past weekend during rookie minicamp.

Canteen was a redshirt senior who played one season at the University of Cincinnati. He started all 12 games in 2024 and recorded 44 tackles, three tackles for loss, five pass breakups, and one interception.

In 2023, Canteen started three games for Virginia Tech but played in all 13 games. Canteen spent three seasons at Georgia Southern, where he was a freshman All-American in 2020 and earned All-Sun Belt honors in 2020 as well as 2022.

This past season, Canteen played on every special teams unit. He played 535 defensive snaps, with most of those coming in the box. Canteen played 197 snaps in the slot and 265 in the box. He also played 63 snaps at free safety, with nine coming out wide at corner. So, he played all over the place.

At his Pro Day, Canteen measured 5-foot-11, 197 pounds. His vertical jump of 30.5 was uninspiring. It doesn’t say that he ran a 40, but one report had Canteen running a 4.54.