49ers Cut Johnson, Torretta; Cardinals Release Hearst

Johnny Johnson, signed last spring to bolster the San Francisco 49ers’ rushing attack, was cut Tuesday without playing in a game.

Gino Torretta, the 1992 Heisman Trophy winner, also was among 18 players released as the 49ers trimmed their roster to the NFL-mandated 60-player limit.

Johnson, who signed to a two-year, $3-million contract last March, aggravated a back injury on the 49ers’ first day of training camp.

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The Arizona Cardinals waived running back Garrison Hearst in a salary-cap gambit that allowed them to offer high-dollar contracts to defensive linemen Simeon Rice and Eric Swann.

Swann signed a two-year, $7-million contract Tuesday. Rice, the third player selected in this year’s draft, signed a four-year contract on Monday, averaging $2.275 million.

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Tim Biakabutuka, the Carolina Panthers’ top draft choice who signed a seven-year, $12.7-million contract last week, will make his debut in the team’s exhibition finale Friday night. . . . Veteran lineman John Gesek, one of 19 players cut by the Washington Redskins, said he will ask the players’ union to file a grievance over the $500,000 salary he was due to receive this season because he was cut while injured. . . . The Minnesota Vikings’ released kicker Lin Elliott and 12 others.