49ers K Robbie Gould says he is going to play elsewhere in 2023
It’s the end of one of the most successful runs in 49ers history
The San Francisco 49ers have their answer to one of the offseason's bigger questions: veteran kicker Robbie Gould will forgo returning to the team in order to sign elsewhere in 2023.
Gould told ESPN's Adam Schefter, himself, on Saturday.
It's a big loss for the 49ers. For starters, Gould made 84.4% of his field goals in 2022, which was fifth-best among all kickers during the regular season.
But it also hurts on a larger scale because Gould's 87.5% field goal rate is the most accurate in franchise history among kickers that played in at least 24 games. Tristan Vizcaino, Jeff Reed, and Jeff Wilkins are the only kickers above Gould, but they played with the 49ers in just one, five, and 23 games, respectively.
But the good news the 49ers have been evaluating kickers at the NFL Combine. Even though general manager John Lynch recently said Gould is "still very much in the picture", it's good to see the GM and co. doing their due diligence.
“Part of the whole Robbie situation is we got to do our work here, and you want to give Robbie as much time to pivot as possible," said Lynch. "But we have to do our evaluations here.”
Featured image via Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
