Evans native signs with San Francisco 49ers

Just because your name wasn’t called in the NFL Draft, doesn’t mean you have to give up on your dreams.

Evan’s Derrick Canteen didn’t give up on his dreams.

The San Francisco 49ers signed the undrafted corner after he made an impression at Rookie Minicamp.

Canteen is signed to a 3-year contract; the 49ers had to waive Safety Quindell Johnson to make room.

The rookie could get some minutes, but has the potential to start.

There are still question marks — he’s the second undrafted free agent corner to sign with San Francisco.

He spent six college seasons at three schools including four years with Georgia Southern, one at Virginia Tech and his final one at Cincinnati.

With Cincinnati, last season, he started all 12 games and recorded 44 tackles.

In six seasons of college, Canteen played in 54 games with 40 starts and racked up 204 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 32 pass breakups and nine interceptions.

In 2023, Canteen started three games for Virginia Tech but played in all 13 games. He spent three seasons at Georgia Southern, where he was a freshman All-American in 2020 and earned All-Sun Belt honors in 2020 as well as 2022.

At his Pro Day, Canteen measured 5-foot-11, 197 pounds and had a vertical of 30.5 inches.