Taylor signed with the 49ers' practice squad Wednesday.
The wide receiver was waived by the team Tuesday. Taylor competed for a returner role during the preseason, but he suffered an undisclosed injury and may not have made the team anyway. He has not caught 10 balls in a season since 2020.
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49ers' Trent Taylor: Dealing with injury
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Taylor (undisclosed) worked off on the sideline during Wednesday's practice, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.
It seems that Taylor sustained an injury in recent days, as he didn't participate in team drills Wednesday. The Lousianna Tech product is battling for the team's top kick and punt returner spot, so missing time could hurt his chances of winning those jobs. Expect Ronnie Bell to assume all the first-team punt and kick return duties while Taylor nurses his injury.
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49ers' Trent Taylor: Returns to Bay Area
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Taylor signed a one-year contract with the 49ers on Tuesday, Lindsey Pallares of the team's official site reports.
Taylor started his career in San Francisco before a two-year stay with the Bengals, and he spent the 2023 campaign with the Bears. The 29-year-old will have the opportunity to earn a role in the return game with the Niners after the departure of Ray-Ray McCloud in free agency this offseason.
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Trent Taylor: Could return to Bay Area
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Taylor has talked to the 49ers about a potential return to the team, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
Taylor was selected by San Francisco in the fifth round of the 2017 Draft and spent three seasons there before stops in Cincinnati and Chicago. The 49ers do currently have a void in their return game, with Ray-Ray McCloud now in Atlanta, which is likely where the interest in Taylor lies.
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Bears' Trent Taylor: Heads toward free agency
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Taylor played 24 percent of the snaps but wasn't targeted in the Bears' 17-9 loss to the Packers on Sunday.
In his first year with Chicago and sixth season as a pro, Taylor's main value was as a punt returner. The veteran played fewer than 10 percent of the offensive snaps in more than half of his games, and his only touch of the season was a rushing attempt that resulted in a two-yard loss. He was also targeted once this season. Taylor is now an unrestricted free agent.
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Bears' Trent Taylor: No targets in Week 14
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Taylor went without a target while playing 10 of 71 snaps on offense and returned four punts for 56 yards in Sunday's 28-13 win over the Lions.
Taylor has yet to record a reception through 13 appearances on the season and has just two targets to his name over 71 snaps on offense. He looks like he'll continue to provide most of his value to the Bears on special teams through his role as the team's punt returner.
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Bears' Trent Taylor: First target of season
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Taylor failed to catch his lone target in the Bears' 19-13 loss to the Vikings on Sunday.
Taylor sees most of his playing time on special teams, and it doesn't seem likely that he'll move into a prominent role in the offense in the near future.
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Trent Taylor: Cut by Bengals
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Cincinnati is slated to release Taylor on Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
Taylor was effective for the Bengals last season, when he recorded a career-high 340 punt return yards across 16 appearances. His release is somewhat surprising, and may speak to what the team saw from Charlie Jones and/or Kwamie Lassiter during the preseason.
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Bengals' Trent Taylor: Staying in Cincy
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Taylor re-signed with the Bengals on a one-year contract in March of 2023, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
Taylor was one of the league's most effective punt returners in 2022, ranking fourth in punt return yards with 340. His role as a receiver in Cincinnati's high-powered offense has been minimal, though, as Taylor has only eight catches in two seasons with the Bengals.
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Bengals' Trent Taylor: Plays exclusively on special teams
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Taylor played all three of his snaps on special teams in Sunday's 27-16 win over the Ravens and took back two punts for 12 yards.
Since drawing a season-high four targets while playing 77 percent of the Bengals' snaps on offense Week 14 against the Browns, Taylor's role on offense has evaporated while Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd have returned to full health. Taylor played just two snaps on offense over the Bengals' last three regular-season games and finished the campaign with six catches for 62 yards on 10 targets. He'll likely be limited exclusively to a special-teams role during the Bengals' upcoming postseason run.
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Bengals' Trent Taylor: Set to play Saturday
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Taylor (hamstring) does not carry a game status on the Bengals' final Week 16 injury report.
Taylor has been limited during practice while dealing with a hamstring injury the past two weeks. While he was listed as questionable last week, the 28-year-old was still able to suit up for Sunday's win over the Buccaneers. With no injury designation this time around, expect Taylor to continue seeing the majority of his work on special teams now Cincinnati's wide receiver corps is back to full health.
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Bengals' Trent Taylor: Limited on Tuesday's estimate
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Taylor (hamstring) was listed as a limited participant on Tuesday's practice estimate, Jay Morrison of The Athletic reports.
Taylor entered last weekend's matchup against Tampa Bay with a questionable tag due to a hamstring issue, but he was ultimately able to suit up. He's now opened Week 16 prep as a limited participant during Tuesday's walk-through session, though it would be surprising if Saturday's contest versus New England accounted for the 28-year-old's first missed game of the 2022-23 campaign given that he's already played through hamstring concerns this season.
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Bengals' Trent Taylor: Will be available at Tampa Bay
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Taylor (hamstring) is active for Sunday's game at the Buccaneers, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic reports.
After being limited during practice this week, Taylor appears poised to suit up for Week 15. The 28-year-old wideout has caught six passes for 62 yards on 10 targets through 13 games in 2022.
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Bengals' Trent Taylor: Listed as questionable
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Taylor (hamstring) is questionable for Sunday's matchup against Tampa Bay, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic reports.
Taylor was limited by a hamstring injury throughout Week 15 prep, but he'll still have a chance to suit up Sunday. Fellow wideouts Tyler Boyd (finger) and Tee Higgins (hamstring) are also listed as questionable, but they both submitted full practices Friday after being limited Wednesday and Thursday, which suggests they have a better chance than Taylor to play against the Buccaneers.
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Bengals' Trent Taylor: Limited in practice
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Taylor was a limited participant in practice Wednesday due to a hamstring injury, Andrew Gillis of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
It's unclear when Taylor suffered the injury, but in any case, it resulted in his reps being capped during the Bengals' first Week 15 practice. With Tee Higgins (hamstring) and Tyler Boyd (finger) both banged up and uncertain to play Sunday against the Buccaneers at this stage of the week, Taylor's status takes on greater meaning. The 28-year-old played a season-high 47 snaps on offense in last Sunday's win over the Browns, finishing with a 34-yard reception on four targets.
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Bengals' Trent Taylor: One big catch
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Taylor had one catch for 34 yards in the Bengals' win over the Browns.
Taylor had that big catch just after he had another potential catch ruled out of bounds and confirmed upon review. The Bengals will need Taylor to play more offensive snaps again next week against the Bucs should Tyler Boyd (finger) and Tee Higgins (hamstring) miss the game.
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Bengals' Trent Taylor: Records first catch of season
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Taylor recorded a five-yard reception in Monday's 32-13 loss to the Browns.
The 28-year-old has made his biggest impact for the Bengals this season as a punt returner, but he moved up a spot on the team's depth chart at receiver Week 8 while Ja'Marr Chase (hip) was sidelined. Taylor was still limited to playing seven snaps on offense, with his 14 percent share trailing all of Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd and Mike Thomas. Even if Taylor remains the Bengals' No. 4 wideout this Sunday against the Panthers with Chase still sidelined and Stanley Morgan (hamstring) at risk of missing another game, he won't be a high-priority target for quarterback Joe Burrow.
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Bengals' Trent Taylor: Back in limited fashion
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Taylor (hamstring) was listed as a limited participant on the Bengals' injury report Thursday.
Taylor sat out practice Wednesday while dealing with a lingering hamstring injury, so his limited participation is an encouraging sign for his availability heading into Cincinnati's game against Dallas on Sunday. The 28-year-old recorded 31 yards on punt returns while playing 13 of his 21 total snaps on special teams in Week 1. It's likely that Tyler Boyd would handle the Bengals' punt-return duties should Taylor ultimately be unable to suit up in Week 2.
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Bengals' Trent Taylor: Misses practice
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Taylor (hamstring) did not practice Wednesday, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Taylor was questionable heading into Week 1 with the same injury, but he managed to suit up, and filled his role as the team's punt returner. Whether he can repeat that same feat in Week 2 will remain to be seen, with two more practices to go ahead of Sunday's game against the Cowboys.
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Bengals' Trent Taylor: Active for season opener
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Taylor (hamstring) is active for Sunday's season opener against the Steelers, Marisa Contipelli of the Bengals' official site reports.
Taylor popped up on the injury report Thursday and was a limited participant in back-to-back practices, but he'll be good to go for the season opener. The 5-foot-8 wideout likely won't garner a major offensive workload (two receptions for 41 yards across four games last year), but he is expected to operate as the Bengals' primary punt returner.
