East Carolina wide receiver Isaiah Winstead went undrafted.
Then, he went unsigned — and, seemingly, unwanted — for three days after the 2023 NFL Draft.
He lamented Sunday on social media that he received “no minicamp invite or UDFA deal.” Video of practice film he posted received more than two million views.
The 49ers did something about that on Wednesday, signing him to a spot on the team’s 90-man offseason roster.
“Apparently, he attacked it hard on social media, so I think people thought that maybe we were swayed by that,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said Thursday morning on KNBR.
Lynch said the 49ers’ personnel department knew about Winstead all along and decided to sign him to their group of undrafted rookies. The 49ers have signed 12 rookie free agents to go along with their nine-player draft class.
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“He committed to some other teams for rookie minicamps,” Lynch said of Winstead. “We liked him enough that a rookie minicamp invite, how do you (top) that, well, you say, ‘Hey, we’ll go ahead and sign you to our 90.’ So we did.”
Winstead, a transfer from Toledo, caught a career-best 88 passes for 1,085 yards and six touchdowns last season at East Carolina.
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Winstead (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) was clocked at 4.75 seconds in the 40-yard dash during the pre-draft process.
He joins a 49ers group of wide receivers that already consist of Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, Ray-Ray McCloud, Danny Gray, Ronnie Bell, Chris Conley, Willie Snead, Tyron Johnson, Tay Martin, Dazz Newsome and Shae Wyatt.