49ers claim former Oregon defensive lineman, waive McCray

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The 49ers on Monday added to their stable of former Oregon defensive linemen.

The 49ers claimed defensive tackle Taylor Hart off waivers from the Philadelphia Eagles and waived safety L.J. McCray to make room for him.

Hart, 25, becomes the fourth former Oregon defensive lineman with the 49ers. Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner are on the 49ers' 53-man roster, while Alex Balducci, now a center, is on the 49ers' practice squad.

The Eagles originally selected Hart in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. Last season, Hart appeared in 14 games with one start. He recorded 30 tackles after being inactive for each game of his rookie season.

The 49ers were required to make a move with McCray before 1 p.m. on Monday after he was returned to the 49ers after he failed a physical with the Seattle Seahawks. On Saturday, the 49ers traded McCray to the Seahawks for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2018. McCray had to pass a physical in order for the trade to be finalized.

McCray now goes on the waiver wire, and any team, including the Seahawks, can claim him and not owe the 49ers any compensation.

McCray, 25, played all 58 defensive snaps in the 49ers’ exhibition finale Thursday night against the San Diego Chargers. He sat out the first two exhibition games before returning to action with 21 snaps of defense on Aug. 26 against the Green Bay Packers. He appeared in 22 games in his first two NFL seasons, mostly on special teams, before sustaining his knee injury Nov. 1 against the St. Louis Rams.

On Monday, the 49ers also waived wide receiver DeAndre Smelter with an injury settlement. Smelter did not appear in any games during the exhibition season due to hamstring injury. The 49ers selected him in the fourth round of the 2015 draft. He did not play as a rookie, as he rehabbed from a torn ACL that ended his final season at Georgia Tech.

Also, the 49ers completed their initial 10-player practice squad with the signing of former Cal and New England Patriots wide receiver Chris Harper.

Harper was among the Patriots’ final cuts this weekend after catching one pass for 6 yards in five games for New England last season. Harper (5 foot 11, 185 pounds) split time last season between the practice squad and 53-man roster after originally signing with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2015.

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