It looked bleak, hopeless. Until it didn’t.
After months of tough talk and hard feelings that made it seem like kicker Robbie Gould would eventually be leaving the 49ers, the two sides have come together, fueled by the kind of offer that no specialist would ever refuse.
Via multiple reports, Gould will receive $10.5 million fully guaranteed at signing, on a two-year deal with a team-held two-year option.
That’s where it gets interesting. The 49ers must decide by late in the 2020 season whether to pick up the final two years of the deal. If they choose to keep Gould at that point, another $2.25 million becomes fully guaranteed, with another $2.25 million fully guaranteed as of April 1, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
It’s a stunning development, given that Gould had made it clear that he wanted to change teams. Of course, his feelings likely were influenced by the offers he had gotten (hadn’t gotten) from the 49ers prior to the eleventh hour of the window for negotiating long-term deals with franchise-tagged players.
The move leaves Bears fans disappointed, since they were holding out hope that the meanderings for a post-Cody Parkey option would result in Gould coming home.
But don’t give up completely, Bears fans. Once Gould is officially under contract, the Bears could (in theory) call the 49ers and make the kind of offer that would make the 49ers decide to look elsewhere for a kicker.
While highly unlikely, it’s not impossible. And stranger things have happened, like Gould getting a long-term deal done with the 49ers at a time when it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he wouldn’t.