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Gould Signs Long-Term Deal With 49ers
Robbie Gould and the 49ers agreed in principle on a long-term contract, according to mulitple reports early Monday.
The two sides had until Monday's 4 p.m. ET deadline to work out a multi-year solution otherwise the veteran kicker would have played 2019 under the $4.971 million franchise tag.
And it's not clear he would have been okay with that.
As NFL.com recounted this morning, Gould seemed poised to force his way out of San Francisco eventually. The kicker requested a trade earlier this offseason, which the Niners organization refused. The 36-year-old kicker, who spent his first 11 seasons with the Bears, seemed to pine for a return to Chicago, where his family still lives.
Gould sat out of the 49ers' workouts this offseason. His comments about leaving seemed to pin the Niners into a corner. They could acquiesce to his trade desires, allow the situation to persist for a year then watch one of the most accurate kickers in the NFL walk away, or ante up and pay him in line with his worth.
The 49ers chose the latter option, which settles their kicker situation for the next few seasons at least.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the four-year pact is worth $19 million, with the first two years fully guaranteed. The $4.75 million per year average makes him the second-highest-paid kicker in the NFL -- behind only Ravens' Justin Tucker. The two fully guaranteed years are worth $10.5 million at signing, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero added.
The figure makes sense, as it's about what the kicker would have made if he played the next two seasons on the franchise tags.
Since being cut by the Bears in 2016 after two down seasons, Gould has been one of the most reliable kickers in the NFL. Over the past three seasons, he's nailed 82 of 85 field goal attempts. Last year -- his second in San Francisco -- Gould finished with the highest field goal rate among kickers with more than seven attempts, connected on 33 of 34 tries.
Gould's reliability makes him a weapon that San Francisco could not allow to walk away.