Lynch on releasing Brock: ‘Not easy’

General manager John Lynch said last week’s decision to release Tramaine Brock was difficult partly because the cornerback figured to play a prominent role for the 49ers in 2017.

Brock started 31 games over the past two seasons, but it wasn’t known how he was viewed by a new regime that includes Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan. Brock was released hours after the team learned of his arrest for felony domestic violence.

“I think there’s been some conjecture that we didn’t think highly of him,” Lynch said. “That couldn’t have been further from the truth. He was a starting player for us. So that was not easy.”

Lynch was asked if he had a zero-tolerance policy with players when it came to domestic violence. He stressed the value of character and said each case would be viewed independently.

“As those situations arise and, hopefully, there won’t be a lot them, we’re going to treat each one of them as a unique and different situation,” said Lynch, speaking generally of off-the-field transgressions. “That’s what we did the other day. …

“I can also tell you that it wasn’t meant to send a message. I think you let those things happen organically and we did what we felt was the right situation in that situation. It was not easy and felt like it was something that we needed to do.”

Lynch declined to say if the 49ers have removed Oklahoma running back and FreedomOakley graduate Joe Mixon from their draft board. Mixon was suspended for the 2014 season at Oklahoma after he was charged with misdemeanor assault following an incident in which he punched a woman in the face.

“We’re not going to share some specifics of our board, who’s on it, who’s off it,” Lynch said. “So I think that applies to that young man as well.” No change: Despite the release of Brock, Lynch said the 49ers still will experiment with moving Jimmie Ward, their other starting cornerback, to safety.

“I think the automatic assumption is with what happened here in the last week that maybe we’d change and redirect,” Lynch said. “No. I think we’re going to do what we think is best for our team, and Jimmie provides a unique versatility and we’re going to try to take advantage of that.”

Ward played the position at Northern Illinois and his speed could make him wellsuited to play single-high safety in the 49ers’ new 4-3 defense. However, Lynch also didn’t rule out addressing the position in the draft, which includes Ohio State’s Malik Hooker and LSU’s Jamal Adams, each of whom is a potential top-five pick.

Even after the consensus top two players, the draft is viewed as deep at safety. The 49ers hosted Washington’s Budda Baker for a pre-draft visit Tuesday, NFL Network reported. Baker is viewed as a potential second-round pick.