The 49ers made a curious move Tuesday when they signed long snapper Jon Condo and released long snapper Colin Holba. It’s such an oft-overlooked position, and a roster move not involving a tackle after Joe Staley’s injury came as a bit of a surprise.
There was no indication that anything was wrong with Holba, who signed with the club last season after long snapper Kyle Nelson was suspended for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan told media Wednesday at his press conference that the move was simply an effort to better the team.
“After a couple of weeks, not just the games, but some things in practice too we just felt that we could get better and when there was an option out there we pulled the trigger and hopefully we will,” Shanahan said.
Holba, 25, was the long snapper for the final four games of last season, and the first two games of this season. There are four games left until Nelson’s 10-game suspension is over.
Shanahan didn’t have specifics on the switch, but offered that the team is aiming for perfection, which Holba fell short of.
“This isn’t my area of expertise, but there are very little details and stuff with timing and you want guys to be perfect every time,” he said. “No, he wasn’t perfect so we are just trying to see if we can get someone a little more consistent. He wasn’t bad though either. We just thought we could make an upgrade.”
Condo, 38, is a 13-year NFL veteran and two-time Pro Bowler. He spent his rookie season with the Cowboys, then his next 11 seasons were spent in Oakland. He played with the Falcons last season. He’ll likely only play four games in San Francisco with Nelson due to return after signing a four-year contract he signed this offseason.
