Gould signs deal for 4 years
Kicker’s contract with 49ers said to be $19 million
Kicker Robbie Gould’s sometimes contentious contract talks with the 49ers wound up with the two sides tying the knot again.
The club announced a fouryear deal Monday. ESPN reported that it’s worth $19 million with a fully guaranteed $10.5 million in the first two years.
“Over the years, Robbie has established himself as one of the best at his position in the NFL, which is precisely why we were so committed to working out a new contract with him,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said in a statement.
“I would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this deal come to fruition. We are very happy to start off the year on the right foot with this agreement in
place so that Robbie can get back with his teammates and focus on making the most out of the upcoming season.”
Because he was designated a franchise player, the 49ers faced a 1 p.m. Monday deadline to sign the 36yearold to a longterm deal.
His agent, Brian Mackler, and 49ers executive Paraag Marathe had worked on a deal for months and reached a breakthrough Sunday by installing an option clause, ESPN reported. That is, the 49ers can pick up the remaining two years on the contract by the 17th week of the 2020 season, according to an ESPN source. The 49ers would have to fully guarantee Gould $2.25 million at that time and another $2.25 million in 2021.
Gould will receive a $3 million signing bonus and a $3.15 million fully guaranteed base salary this season, then a fully guaranteed $4.35 million base salary in 2020, ESPN reported. If the option is exercised, the deal would include a $4.5 million base salary in 2021 and a $4 million base salary in 2022.
The 49ers had placed the franchise tag on Gould in February for a price tag of about $5 million. He had stayed away from the team during the offseason program.
A day after Lynch said Gould would be in uniform for the season opener Sept. 8, Gould confirmed he had requested a trade back to Chicago, where he started his career and where his family still lives.
The kicker told a Chicago radio station in February that he wanted to choose his next team based partly on family considerations and the ability to land at least a threeyear contract. At the end of his appearance, he said: “Once a Bear, always a Bear.”
Although 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said in April that the team wouldn’t trade Gould, Mackler told ESPN at the time that he didn’t expect Gould to report to the team before the season opener — “if at all.”
Shanahan seemed resigned at the time that “we’re not going to have him longterm here.”
Gould spent the first 11 seasons of his 14year career with the Bears. He signed a twoyear, $4 million deal with the 49ers in 2017. His wife and three sons stayed in the Chicago area while he kicked for San Francisco the past two seasons.
He ranks second in NFL history in career fieldgoal percentage (87.7) among kickers who have made at least 100 field goals. Last year, he led the league in that category by making 33 of 34 attempts (97.1%).
He has made 72 of 75 kicks with the 49ers, the most accurate (96%) twoyear stretch in NFL history by a kicker with at least 50 tries. He has made 89 of his past 92 attempts dating to 2015.
His 72 field goals in the twoyear period rank first in the NFL over that span. His 271 total points in 201718 are the secondmost in a twoyear span in franchise history. Only David Akers, with 297 in 201112, had more. Gould set the franchise record by making 33 consecutive fieldgoal attempts in 201718.