49ers suddenly have abundance of linebackers
Say this for the 49ers: They don’t lack for inside linebackers.
On Thursday, as Reuben Foster officially returned to the team facility free of three felony charges he’d faced since early April, he was welcomed back by a position group brimming with capable players.
The 49ers enacted a contingency plan in the two months after Foster’s domestic-violence arrest in February forced them to consider a future without him. That plan now can be viewed as a bit excessive after a Santa Clara County judge Wednesday dismissed the two domestic-violence
charges against Foster and reduced a weapons charge to a misdemeanor.
There is no longer much question about whether Foster will play in 2018, which inspires this question: What’s the plan for all these inside linebackers?
In the offseason, the 49ers re-signed Brock Coyle, signed Korey Toomer and used a thirdround pick to draft Fred Warner. Those inside linebackers joined Malcolm Smith, who missed 2017 with a torn pectoral muscle he’d sustained in training camp.
At the moment, Foster and Smith are the presumptive starters, with Warner serving as the top backup. Coyle, a specialteams standout who played well last year in an emergency starting role, and Toomer, who started eight games for the Chargers in 2017, round out one of the NFL’s deepest inside-linebacker corps.
The 49ers figure to keep only four inside linebackers on their 53man roster, but continued uncertainty regarding Foster is why the flurry of moves at the position was prudent, even in light of his return.
Foster still could face an NFL suspension of an undetermined length this
season, most likely for a violation of its substanceabuse policy. He was arrested in Alabama in January for misdemeanor marijuana possession, an arrest that came less than a year after he failed a drug test at the NFL combine for submitting a diluted sample. In addition, there is the misdemeanor weapons charge he faces for a Sig Sauer rifle police found in his Los Gatos home that Foster, through his attorney, said he legally purchased in Alabama.
Beyond his murky status for part of 2018, there is still the matter of whether Foster can stay in the 49ers’ long-term plans. There is no questioning his talent — general manager John Lynch
has said he possesses Hall-of-Fame ability — but there remain questions about his ability to stay out of trouble.
On Wednesday, Lynch’s statement that announced Foster could return to the 49ers on Thursday indirectly referenced his past issues: “It has been made clear to Reuben that his place on this team is one that must continue to be earned.”
Foster was a top-10 talent in the 2017 draft who slipped to the No. 31 pick at least partly because of character concerns he hasn’t erased. He was arrested twice in the first 41 days of this offseason and, though he has been cleared of domesticviolence charges, at least one detail surrounding his
second arrest raises more questions about his decision-making.
According to the police report, officers entered his Los Gatos home and detected a strong smell of marijuana, the Sacramento Bee reported. The drug is legal in California, but prohibited by the NFL, and Foster’s second arrest came a month after his arrest for marijuana possession.
Foster’s off-the-field issues have obscured an on-field concern that could impact his longterm status in the NFL: his health. In 2017, Foster, who had shoulder surgery before he was drafted, missed five games with a high ankle sprain and another with a back injury.
Looking ahead, assuming Foster proves capable of staying on the field and out of unwanted headlines, Foster and Warner figure to become of the inside-linebacker tandem of the future.
Smith, 28, a Super Bowl MVP who signed a five-year, $26.5 million contract last year, figures to play a prominent role this season. However, he soon could be expendable: Smith’s contract doesn’t include any guaranteed money in 2019 and the final two years on his deal are option years.