San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch expressed confidence this week that Robbie Gould will be a big part of the team again in 2019, but the veteran kicker apparently has other plans.
The 49ers used the franchise tag on Gould, and the 36-year-old had been negotiating with the team on a long-term deal. His camp recently submitted some proposals for a long-term extension, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that he has pulled those and asked the Niners to trade him.
In a turn of events, 49ers’ franchise kicker Robbie Gould has pulled his contract proposals that he sent to San Francisco and told the team he will not negotiate or sign a long-term deal with them, and he would like to be traded, Gould said Tuesday.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 23, 2019
Gould is one of the best kickers in NFL history and ranks second all-time with a field goal accuracy of 87.745. Lynch said recently that he is unsure about a potential training camp holdout from Gould, but he knows he will be with the team come Week 1.
“I can’t speak to when he’s going to be here,” Lynch said. “But when we kick it off, he’ll be here.”
While Gould doesn’t have much leverage, the 49ers now have to decide if they want to grant him his wish or deal with a potentially ugly situation.
