SANTA CLARA — A year after the 49ers drafted Cameron Latu in Round 3, they waived him. And he never played a regular-season snap.

He was so bad in training camp last year, they put him on Injured Reserve without a designation to return. And then he was so bad in training camp this year, they waived them even though they had used premium draft capital to acquire him. Now, he’s on the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad. That’s how bad of a job Latu has done since getting drafted.

“Cam did a great job,” general John Lynch said on Wednesday. “Had two knee surgeries in his time here. But, couldn’t have asked for anything more in terms of his work ethic. I think we just kind of, you fall into some good players. [TE Eric] Saubert is a guy that we went out and got in free agency, really has been a nice find for us both at tight end and at special teams. [TE] Jake Tonges has been really, I’d say, a surprise and played really well. [TE] Brayden Willis was a tough cut, but he’s back on our practice squad. I think there was just tough competition. Cam can do a lot of good things. I saw he landed on, I believe, Cleveland’s practice squad. I’m excited for him and his opportunities. The thing everyone liked about Cam coming in is he could do a little bit of everything. And it takes, I always tell players, it took me until my third year to start in this league, and things went pretty well. It happens at different times for different players. You want to be able to hold on, but when you’ve got a roster, sometimes you have to make tough decisions. And that was certainly a tough one, because Cam gave us everything he had.”

I’m guessing the 49ers would have signed Latu to their practice squad but he wanted a fresh start elsewhere.

Good luck in Cleveland, Cam.