Photo courtesy of the San Francisco 49ers
Defensive end
Dee Ford had hoped to play a significant role on the San Francisco 49ers defense this season. In fact, his goal was to play every down, which probably wasn’t a realistic goal, but it was an admirable one.
“Every down. Every down. Every down,” Ford responded when asked in September if he expected to see more playing time. “Pass rushing is what I do, but I make plays, at the end of the day. Pass rushing is what I do, but my goal is to be a great defensive player, not a great pass rusher. So, first, second, and third down. Fourth down, if we need it.”
Ford played just 46 defensive snaps this season. All of them came during Week 1, and the veteran pass rusher hasn’t played since due to a back injury. His durability has been in question.
When Ford is on the football field, he can make a game-changing impact. The problem has been his availability. Ford has missed 10 games in his two seasons with San Francisco, and he was limited in many of the games last season due to lingering injuries.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said this week that he doesn’t expect Ford to return this season.
“It’s not looking like [he’ll return],” Shanahan told reporters. “I mean, I’m not going to say no for sure. We’re holding out hope, but it’s not looking like it.”
Ford is set to earn base salaries of $15.15 million next season and $16.15 million in each of the following two seasons. That’s a lot of money for a player who can’t stay on the field. One might think the decision of whether or not to keep Ford is an easy one. It’s not, however. And that has to do with his current injury.
“Ford, who’s been dealing with a back injury, has to be healthy before the 49ers can release him,” Matt Barrows explained in a recent
mailbag column for The Athletic. “If he can’t pass a physical by April 1, then they might be on the hook for a big chunk of his 2021 salary — $11.6 million. It’s something to monitor as the offseason begins.”
Basically, if Ford isn’t healthy by that April 1 date, there may not be a significant benefit to parting ways with the defensive end, except to free up a roster spot. Barrows does note that he believes the 49ers will cut Ford at some point. He just has some health hurdles to clear before they can do so.
San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman has indicated that he plans to play until he is about 35 years old. That means maybe three more years. At least, that was the plan a couple of years ago.
“I think 35 is probably my cutoff,” Sherman said in his first season with the 49ers. “They’d have a hard time getting me out of the bed at 35 to go play.”
Would Sherman consider a move to safety before then, if necessary? He’s spoken to Charles Woodson, who successfully did so during his career, about the idea.
“At some point, everybody makes the transition to safety if you’re smart enough to play that game,” Sherman said. “I’ll probably do that in
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters via Zoom on Tuesday and provided several updates on players. First, the injury updates.
Shanahan was holding out hope that defensive end Dee Ford would return from his back injury this season. The coach didn’t sound too optimistic of that on Tuesday when asked if Ford might return.
“It’s not looking like it,” Shanahan said. “I mean, I’m not going to say no for sure. We’re holding out hope but it’s not looking like it.”
The same is the case for center Weston Richburg and defensive end Ronald Blair.
“I don’t (expect them to return this season),” Shanahan said. “Both of them had really bad setbacks with the stuff that happened in their surgeries. I know both of them are still
Nobody likes the always-the-victim mentality. We all know that person and his/her endless tales of woe, discord, and pain.
The San Francisco 49ers are not complaining, but they are the unfortunate victim of the never-ending fallout of this rotten year. Indeed, the New York Jets are winless, but the 49ers had the potential to dominate the NFC again this year.
As they tormented Odysseus, the fates felt it necessary for the men in scarlet red and gold to suffer.
The amount of misfortune that’s happened to the 49ers has been entirely out of their control. They cannot control a sticky artificial surface any more than they can prevent a rogue defensive lineman rolling up on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s foot.
There is an upside to the misery.
