NFL teams
Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Disgruntled 49ers CB Shareece Wright 'just wants to play football'

NFL, San Francisco 49ers

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Disgruntled cornerback Shareece Wright, who reportedly wants to be released or traded by the San Francisco 49ers, clarified his feelings a bit on Wednesday.

"I just want to play football, man," Wright said in the Niners locker room. "That's all. I feel like I deserve it. I just want to play."

Wright, one of the team's more high-profile free-agent acquisitions this offseason after starting his last 27 games with the San Diego Chargers, has been inactive for all three of the Niners' games thus far this season. Just before the inactives were announced Sunday in Glendale, Arizona, Wright tweeted, "Politics as usual." The tweet was later deleted.

He was a starting cornerback coming into camp, opposite Tramaine Brock, but has been supplanted by Kenneth Acker, Keith Reaser and Dontae Johnson. Asked if he was surprised by how things have gone for him with the Niners, Wright smiled.

"It's not going the way I thought it would," he said, "but at the end of the day, I just want to play football."

Wright had led the NFL in defensive pass interference penalties since 2013 when he signed a one-year contract with a reported $1.5 million signing bonus, and he would reportedly earn $21,875 for every game he is active. But with three scratches, he is already out $65,625, not counting the $250,000 in incentives he cannot earn if he is not playing.

"It's part of the business," Wright said of the financial implications for him. "All those things come into play at times.

"I think I had a good enough camp to play. I feel like I deserve that, at least."

Wright, who has one career interception in 44 career games, has a base salary of $850,000, and he did get $250,000 for participating in the 49ers' offseason program. Still, his contract's cash value of $2.95 million is the most lucrative among the team's cornerbacks.

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