The San Francisco 49ers signed Khalil Herbert to a one-year deal, adding a veteran running back as they reshaped the roster in the same update that brought in DL Titus Leo. To make room, the team waived CB Eli Apple and waived/injured DL Mikail Kamara.
Herbert, 28, arrives after a 2025 season with the New York Jets in which he played seven games and finished with 16 carries for 52 yards and one reception for four yards. That is a modest line for a player who has been around the league long enough to matter: he has appeared in 63 NFL games with 13 starts, and he has 416 carries for 1,957 yards and nine rushing touchdowns, plus 54 catches for 316 yards and two scores.
The move also puts another stop on a career path that has already run through the Chicago Bears, the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Jets. Herbert was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft after a college career split between the University of Kansas and Virginia Tech, where he was productive enough to leave with 474 rushing attempts, 2,917 yards and 22 touchdowns in 46 games.
What the 49ers want from Herbert is still not spelled out, and that is the real point of the signing. A one-year deal gives San Francisco a low-risk look at a back with a proven NFL workload, but it also leaves open whether he is being brought in as depth, competition or simply another option to stabilize a room that changed again on the same day.
For Herbert, the chance is immediate and familiar: another roster, another test, and another short contract that has to turn past production into a role before the next wave of moves arrives.
