Former South Alabama quarterback Carter Bradley played a lot for the San Francisco 49ers during the preseason. Former Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne played only a little for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Both had the same NFL fate on Monday, when they were waived.
The quarterbacks were among the nine players from Alabama high schools and colleges who were waived on Monday. Across the NFL, 125 players were placed on waivers on Monday.
The players will be subject to being claimed by other teams until 11 a.m. Wednesday, at which time they will become free agents if unclaimed.
The players with Alabama football roots waived on Monday include:
Wide receiver Kawaan Baker (South Alabama) by the Green Bay Packers
Quarterback Carter Bradley (South Alabama) by the San Francisco 49ers
Defensive tackle Shakel Brown (Troy) by the San Francisco 49ers
Punter James Burnip (Alabama) by the New Orleans Saints
Punter Oscar Chapman (Auburn) by the Minnesota Vikings
Wide receiver Kobe Hudson (Auburn) by the Carolina Panthers
Cornerback Christian Matthew (Samford) by the Dallas Cowboys
Quarterback Payton Thorne (Auburn) by the Cincinnati Bengals
Guard Clay Webb (Oxford) by the Denver Broncos
Each NFL team has until 3 p.m. CDT Tuesday to reduce its 90-player preseason roster to 53 active players for the regular season.
Thorne did not play in Cincinnati’s first two preseason games. He made his first appearance of the preseason with 2:09 left in the third quarter on the Bengals’ 41-14 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday. He completed 4-of-7 passes for 41 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
Thorne helmed two possessions – a three-and-out and a 13-play, 69-yard touchdown drive. Thorne had two third-down completions for first downs on the touchdown drive. He also fumbled twice and lost one, but that play was nullified by an Indianapolis penalty.
An undrafted rookie, Thorne entered the game listed with Desmond Ridder on the third-team line of the Cincinnati depth chart behind Joe Burrow and Jake Browning.
Bradley spent last season as an undrafted rookie with the Las Vegas Raiders without appearing in a regular-season game. He signed with the 49ers on July 31, 17 days after being released by the Raiders.
Bradley completed 22-of-41 passes for 199 yards with one touchdown and one interception as he played in all three San Francisco preseason games.
Bradley started the 49ers’ preseason finale on Saturday night, but he left earlier than scheduled with an undisclosed injury. But San Francisco’s other available quarterback, Tanner Mordecai, also got hurt, and Bradley was the QB when the 49ers had the football during the final five minutes of the 30-23 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. He threw a 22-yard touchdown pass with 3:12 to play after the 49ers recovered a muffed punt at the Los Angeles 19-yard line.
Both Bradley and Mordecai were placed on waivers on Monday with injury designations. If they go unclaimed, they will revert to injured reserve with San Francisco and won’t be back in the 2025 season unless released via an injury settlement.
San Francisco has two quarterbacks on its current roster – Brock Purdy and former Alabama All-American Mac Jones.
Burnip, Chapman, Hudson and Webb were undrafted rookies. Baker played in two games as a seventh-round rookie with the New Orleans Saints in 2021, Matthew had played in 20 games across the previous three seasons and Brown was on the practice squads of the 49ers and Miami Dolphins last season and the Tennessee Titans’ injured reserve in 2023.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Carter Bradley looks for a receiver during an NFL preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Carter Bradley looks for a receiver during an NFL preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.(AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.
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