Robbie Gould wants out. The 49ers kicker, who has been cuffed by the franchise tag, has halted all negotiations and refuses to sign a long-term deal with the club, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com hears. 
Gould’s agent, meanwhile, says that if he reports at all, it will not be before the Niners’ Sept. 8 regular season opener. So, at best, Gould appears set to be a summer holdout if he stays in SF. Speaking at his pre-draft press conference yesterday, GM John Lynch said he fully expects Gould to be with the 49ers in 2019, and that he still wants to sign Gould to a multiyear deal (via Matt Barrows of The Athletic). Gould, though, does not appear ready to make nice.
Gould, 36, was released after eleven years with the Bears, leading him to the Giants in 2016. Then, he inked a two-year pact with the Niners in 2017. Recently, Gould grew tired of the protracted contract negotiations and indicated that he wanted to be closer to home with his family in Chicago.
Earlier this offseason, the Niners expressed interest in signing free agent kicker Stephen Gostkowski before he re-signed with the Patriots. That irked Gould, who is doubling down on his desire to return to the midwest.
“The bottom line is, I’m unsure if I want to play there anymore,” Gould said. “At this point, I have to do what’s best for me and my family back home.”
Besides Gould, inexperienced kicker Jonathan Brown is the only other field goal leg on the Niners’ roster.
The Bears should be all over this. He ain’t Cody Parkey, that’s for sure.
Agreed!
Please please please chgo do NOT trade for him
Wants to go back to the team that cut him while screwing over the team that paid him good money for two years when he was out of a job. Business I guess, nothing personal but hard to not take it personal as a 9ers fan and know how hard it is to find a good kicker now a days. Personally, since the guy has had no intentions to re sign, I’d keep the tag on him and let him sit, maybe even do it again next year and if he really wants to play he will play but if he doesn’t want to then he can sit for two years and see if he can find a job after sitting two years. Call me petty, sure, maybe I am, but screw this guy
@Thronson5
I understand why you would be upset with him for wanting to go back to the team that cut him but I think the reason he wants to go back is because he’s 36 he’s getting old won’t play much longer and he really wants to be with His family who is in Chicago and you have to respect Him for that
Tagged him but still we’re looking to sign another kicker. I’m sure that irked Gould to no end.
What does age got to do with anything. He a kicker. Kickers I believe can kick as along as they want. Aren’t there a few kicker out there in there 40s still playing
Agreed that he likely wont retire anytime soon. But he has school-aged kids who live in Chicago during the regular season. It seems to me like his kids ages are the biggest factor here.
If he has school-aged kids then he had kids when he signed the contract. I don’t blame him for changing his mind and deciding he wants to be closer to them, so just retire and get on with it. Holding out as a kicker just makes him look silly.
He didn’t sign this contract, he got tagged instead. He either wants a long term contract with SF or to have the tag rescinded so he can go to Chicago.
he is using the tag and gostowski negotiations as a way out but he has nobody to blame but himself. you dont just get to pick what team you go too. he was on chicago and they cut him. im sure every athlete would love to play near their family and get paid good money while doing it. just retire than if you “want to do whats best for your family” as he says he does. its 2019, its not very hard to get on a plane and fly to chicago and back to wherever the niners are that day. even if he were on the browns or the bengals or any other midwest city, i highly doubt he is driving from anywhere. he is flying from everywhere he could possibly play in the nfl except the bears. i really hope the niners dont cave and take a 6th or 7th rounder for him. just let him sit out and eat that 5 million salary loss like leveon bell did last year
That’s not how things work. Players don’t fly in the day of the game from all over, they fly in from the city where they play. Keep in mind all he wants is a long term contract from anybody. SF refuses to give him one. Apparently, they like you, get off on pissing their employees off. They can’t force him to sit out the whole season. He can sign his franchised contract at anytime between now and January. The only way SF can force him not to sign the contract is by either trading him or rescinding the contract. SF doesn’t want to negotiate anything in good faith. It what’s happens when you have an inexperienced moron as a GM.
Age matters a lot in football! He is nearing the end of his career and Chicago has a great opportunity for him to be with his family and be with a winning team. It’s not like the 49ers did that good last season.
As the above poster said, kickers can play into their 40s. He could easily have another 6-7 years.
Adam Vinatieri is 46…
such a bad take. niners lose their qb last year. if niners lose 2 games this year because goulds replacement misses a kick in the 4th quarter , it could be the difference between making the playoffs and missing them. it could put lynch and shanahan on the hot seat. gould is a solid kicker who the niners really need this year. trading him to chicago for a 7th rounder just so that he can be close to his family does not help the niners in anyway. gould can retire if he wants to be with his family. it shouldnt come as a surprise to him that you dont just get to pick what team you want to play for unless you are a free agent. if the bears didnt have a need for a kicker, this wouldnt even be an issue. he would have to retire or play on a different team other than the bears
San Francisco has refused to sign him an extension for any kind of money, signed a different kicker for multiple years and keeps looking for another kicker. So why should Robbie want to play for them?
The kicker they signed clearly wasn’t signed to replace Gould and is likely cut during camp. Let Gould sit out.
How do you know or how does anybody know? Why not just sign Robbie? This clearly was done so they can find another kicker without being stuck without one. Now they have a kicker who will hold out until the season starts. Just cut your loss and move one if you have no intention of actually signing him for multiple years.
What’s this discord in the 49ers? The Raiders will take him.
He isn’t the Leveon of kickers, but props for him trying to get his way I guess. Good luck!
Just because he demands a trade doesn’t mean 49ers can give him what he wants. For all we know he could be traded to any team. It in the 49ers hands.
Has a kicker ever demanded a trade before this?
That’s what I was thinking. Is this a first?
As a lifelong Bears fan screw this tool.
The Bears cut him because he was trash at the end. Just because Parkey sucked it doesn’t make Gould into Adam Vinitieri.
Go away Gould
Bears fan here that thinks the complete opposite
He even admits they cut him because he sucked
Must be a Bernstein fan
letting him go was probably the right decision at tge time, but they haven’t had a kicker since. it seemed to help Gould as well as he’s arguably better now then he was then. if you’re a SB contender you better have a kicker you can count on and the last 3 years no one in the league has been more accurate. it’s silly to think Gould isn’t one of the best kickers in the league, the numbers do not lie.
Wasn’t Gould cut for cap reasons? The season before he was cut, he hit 85% of FGs. That’s not garbage for outdoors.
Yeah man, he’s the 2nd most accurate in nfl history. Considering he compiled most of that in Chicago only makes it more impressive. 49ers screwed this one
He missed a kick in Minnesota in a dome that cost them the playoffs
Google it he admits he was trash. Not the percentage its when you make them.
was is the key word
Well gould is the 2nd most accurate field goal kicker in nfl history while vinitieri is tied at 16th.
But hey, you do you
Cleveland?
He would be a good pickup for the Browns. They’ve been in bad shape at that position since Phil Dawson left.
49ers should just rescind tag. The last position where I would want a disgruntled, distracted player who wants to leave is kicker.
True
What’s the old saying, “don’t let the door hit you on the way out” or maybe “kickers grow on trees”? Just let the 49er’s have an open tryout for kickers willing to take 10% above the league minimum and see how long it takes for him to recant. Hell, the 49er’s scored so little last year so how important is a kicker?
Didn’t Robbie Gould beat the bears 12-0 last year? He made all his kicks in the game and that was the only way the niners scored. But hopefully they have a healthy offense to start the season unlike last year
No, Chicago beat the Niners.
that was 2017, he kicked 5 FGs and SF won 15-14 or 13
Let Chicago trade a pick in the draft for him get another kicker. 4th rounder should do the trick.
Ha, that would never happen. The Niners don’t HAVE to trade him, BUT Gould does have some power here. He can hold out if he’s traded anywhere else, thus another team won’t want to deal with it, driving his price down. The Bears, if they indeed want him back, don’t have to be desperate. A 7th or MAYBE a 2020 6th would be the most the Bears would give up. The Niners aren’t a contender this year, they don’t need a disgruntled kicker. They might just release him and move on.
he played out his contract and the team refused to offer him a new deal and just tagged him . so that tells u they don’t want him long term and the fact they have another leg on the team and they were wanting to sign another kicker that was on the market . I get y he wants to move to a club closer to his family. no reason to stay if ur not wanted long term and you want to spend ur remaining years close to home . I get it . I think the tag should be pulled . it’s obvious they do not want to be together and the tag is really just there to try and recoup a pick or a player at this point ad the chances are slime a team would offer anything . so makes more since to move on.
Bears and browns need the most help at that position, but how fitting would it be to finish your career with the team you started with but browns need a lot of help at kicker because it’s been a disaster since Phil Dawson left the browns
You know the NFL draft can’t come soon enough when there are more than 40 comments made about a kicker.
Am I the only one who finds it laughable that a frickin kicker is demanding a trade?
I imagine most kickers would prefer a domed stadium to a Buffalo blizzard but I understand your point since the distance between uprights is going to be the same no matter where you attempt FGs.