Ahmad Brooks cut by the 49ers.
Coach Shanahan waives linebacker to give younger Harold, others a chance to play
SANTA CLARA >> Ahmad Brooks and Eli Harold were in the 49ers training room Friday morning when Brooks was summoned to a meeting.
As it turned out, this was the changing of the guard.
The 49ers called in Brooks, 33, to tell the strong-side linebacker they were letting him go.
The move paves the way for Harold, 23, to take over as the team’s starting SAM linebacker. He’ll line up with the first unit Sunday night when the 49ers face the Minnesota Vikings in the third preseason game.
“It feels a little different. Ahmad is a guy I care about and grew up watching,’’ said Harold, a thirdround pick in 2015. “We went to the same school (Virginia) from the same state. He taught me a lot — a whole lot. I was very fortunate coming to a team that had
“It feels a little different. Ahmad is a guy I care about and grew up watching. We went to the same school (Virginia) from the same state. He taught me a lot — a whole lot. I was very fortunate coming to a team that had him on it.” – Eli Harold, 49ers linebacker
him on it.”
Brooks, poised to enter his 11th NFL season, registered 51.5 sacks in San Francisco, a mark that trails only Bryant Young (89.5) and Charles Haley (66.5) in team history.
Brooks is also one of five players to record at least five sacks in each of the past eight seasons. The others are Cliff Avril, Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers and Cameron Wake.
“Great teammate, great friend. Throughout my career, he showed me the right way to be a professional,’’ defensive lineman Tank Carradine said. “Guys on the team look up to him. We’re going to miss him.”
Though the 49ers informed Brooks in the morning that they planned to part ways, they gave themselves a few more hours to work out a trade. When no deal materialized, general manager John Lynch issued a statement just as practice ended thanking Brooks for his nine seasons in San
Francisco.
The deadline for NFL rosters to be set isn’t until Sept. 2, but coach Kyle Shanahan said the 49ers made the decision now in order to let Brooks get a head start on finding other employment.
“I talked to Ahmad this morning. He was great,’’ Shanahan said. “It was something that was really hard for me to do. I never knew Ahmad till I got here. I had a lot of respect for him over his career.
“To be in third in sacks all-time for the San Francisco 49ers is a pretty big deal. It shows the type of career Ahmad has had here.”
Brooks was gone by the time the locker room was open to the media, but he told this newspaper during training camp that he was looking forward to the 49ers revival: “I’m excited for this year. I think we’ll shock a lot of people. I’m a football player — nothing more, nothing less . ... I want to stay out of the way a little bit and do my thing.”
With his departure, the only remaining 49ers who played in the Super Bowl on Feb. 3, 2013, are tackle Joe Staley, linebacker NaVorro Bowman, offensive lineman Daniel Kilgore and tight end Garrett Celek.
And while Harold is the first in line to take over for Brooks, Shanahan said other players will share time. Dekota Watson and Pita Taumopenu are among those in the mix.
“I haven’t accomplished anything yet,’’ Harold said. “It’s still the preseason.”
Brooks had a $6.1 million salary cap figure while Harold is at $823,000.
• C.J. Beathard will be the first 49ers quarterback off the bench again Sunday,
an announcement that underscores his chance of winning the No. 2 job behind Brian Hoyer.
But that announcement was hardly the biggest news in the Beathard household.
Bobby Beathard, the quarterback’s grandfather, took a big step toward making it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The contributor’s committee selected the former longtime NFL general manager as a finalist for the Class of 2018. He must receive 80 percent of the vote by the 48-member selection committee on Feb. 3 to earn enshrinement.
Bobby Beathard, now 80 and living in Tennessee, spent 38 years working in the NFL, including 22 seasons as the GM for Washington (1978-88) and San Diego (1989-2000).
• Jimmie Ward, who is making the conversion from cornerback to safety, will sit out Sunday because of a lingering hamstring injury, Shanahan said.