Report: The 49ers are “shopping” NaVorro Bowman

Posted By on October 13, 2017

SANTA CLARA

The 49ers are trying to trade veteran linebacker NaVorro Bowman, according to Adam Schefter.

This is the right move. Ray Ray Armstrong is better than NaVorro Bowman, and Reuben Foster is coming back from his ankle injury. Armstrong and Foster should be the starting inside linebackers. There’s no role for Bowman anymore. He’s expendable.

My only quibble is the 49ers should have made this move before the season started, as I wrote in early June.

This article has 23 Comments

  1. You called it.

    I think the 49ers did the right thing by giving him a chance to see what they had.

    I think part of the problem is scheme and part Father Time. This scheme is not designed for Bowman’s strengths. It requires LBs to cover in space and react out of their stance, which I have seen Bowman struggle with with my own eyes.

  2. Are teams really considering taking on his salary, cap hit etc…. or can teams sign him and restructure some of that money and how they get hit with that? I will mis Bo, true warrior. Hawks game said it all, even with him holding onto the ball as his knee gets ripped to shreds.

    1. “even with him holding onto the ball as his knee gets ripped to shreds.”

      Exactly! I will never ever forget that play. True warrior on the field. Wish him all the best!

  3. Tree Dog, if a team trades for Bow, his contract comes with him. However, the 49ers could sweeten the deal by taking on a portion of Navorro’s contract, which could happen, and in fact, I suspect it will happen. The 49ers can afford to sweeten the deal because they have plenty of cap space and are more likely to get more in return.

    Additionally, teams interested in Bowman are likely contenders looking for depth, and those teams tend to be strapped for cash.

    I hope Bow gets dealt to a contender. He’s earned another shot at a ring.

    1. Wow, I didn’t expect that. The 49ers flat out released Bow?

      I have to say, that’s a classy move by ShanaLynch. Much respect for the new regime!

  5. We’ve officially entered the age of Reuben Foster. And regardless of Saleh’s claim , I expect Foster to play both MIKE and WILL if/when Bow is traded.

    1. The above post was written before the news of Bowman’s release was announced. I am surprised they couldn’t find a trade partner, but I am also happy for Bow, who has a decent chance of signing with a Super Bowl contender now. And again, I want to give the 49ers FO props for not playing hardball with Bow, and trading him to another bad/or rebuilding team.

      1. 49reasons – why would a club trade for him when they could negotiate a better contract with him as a FA? also, will he pass another club’s physical?????

        1. Because NaVorro can now choose any team, when a trade for NaVorro would secure him. If you’re in the market for a run stopping ILB, you now have to compete with 31 other teams for his services. You trade for him, he doesn’t get an opportunity to negotiate with other teams.

          I assumed the 49ers could trade him if they ate part of his salary, since they will take a salary cap hit either way. But the 49ers did him a solid and did the best thing for Bowman, and released him outright.

          That said, I am not sure he passes a physical. That’s a good question mike.

  6. 49ers did Bowman a solid, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him for his service, and wish him nothing but the best in the next phase of his career….

  8. If it wasn’t obvious before, it should be now: there is a youth movement in SF. Clearly Lynch and Shanahan are seeing what they have on the roster and getting meaningful reps for young players in a year obviously being written off as a rebuild year.

    You have to wonder, is Staley next? He’s in the twilight of his career and has made a few mental errors this season. They might want to look at Trent Brown at LT before investing a huge chunk of money into resigning what likely is being looked at as the anchor of the OL in the future.

    Thoughts?

    1. I think Bowman’s release is different than Staley. In Bowman we already have his replacement on the roster but with Staley you wouldn’t be upgrading with Brown and than you would weaken Browns position with his replacement.. Brown and Staley are our best lineman.

      1. Very good point. But how much longer will Staley be around? Since they clearly are hitting the reset button, would such a move be far out of question?

  9. dumb move……why bring up trading him?……which is why he wanted his release……

    he could have been a mentor this year……

    you mean lynch couldn’t find a team to trade for him….a 7th rd pick would still be better than this

    1. Why does everyone always bring up the “mentor role ” as a rationalization for keeping a declining vet? Just because someone is a good player does not mean they can mentor. If you like them as a mentor just hire them as a coach.

      I would suspect that very few players ever have enough value as a mentor to justify keeping them on a team when their value as a player declines.

  10. If there was any question left as to how extensive this rebuild is, releasing Navorro Bowman has put an exclamation point on the extent of this massive roster overhaul. Wow! Thanks for the memories Bow, you were everything a fan could ask for in a player, and you will be missed.

    It couldn’t be more apparent that ShanaLynch are going all in on building for the future, and I think it’s the right way to go. Let’s hope the fans buy in, and have enough patience to allow the new regime to build this new team the right way.

    Let’s face it. The 49ers are in the very early stages of a complete roster rebuild. Additionally, they are simultaneously in the process of installing entirely new schemes on both sides of the ball. We should feel fortunate that this team has been as competitive as they have been, and should be commended for putting a competent product on the field this quickly.

    This is exciting for me. The 49ers are going through a massive, and in some ways unprecedented amount of changes, while remaining competitive, and exciting to watch week in and week out. Nobody like to lose, but the fact of the matter is, being 0-5, and having lost their last 4 games by 3 points or less, is realistically the best case scenario, for this young team in transition. If the 49ers had themselves a QB they could build around, I’d feel differently. However, with a stop gap starting QB who is realistically no better than an average backup QB in a league driven by star quarterbacks, and youth at nearly every position, this team has no business winning 4-5 games, and winning meaningless games now will likely only stunt their growth as a team in full rebuild mode.

    I never bought into this team winning more than 4-6 games this season, even if they were lucky to get all of the breaks with the ball bouncing their way. My hope going into this season was the hope that the 49ers would not be embarrassingly bad, and actually competitive enough to keep myself interested and entertained, without them suffering the kind of blowouts we’ve seen over the last couple of directionless seasons. So count me in as relatively impressed with the direction of this team, and optimistic about where this team is headed in the future., assuming they solve the QB position, have another solid draft, and land some quality free agents in the coming offseason.

  11. Gotta hand it to you Grant, you called this before training camp . I wish they would have got a draft pick for him, but apparently he didn’t want to go to the one team willing to trade for him with the Niners.

  12. First Bowman earned his contract and the right to dictate where he plays.

    That being said did anyone expect him to pass a physical that would have been necessary in a trade?

  13. Sucks to see Bow go. But I understand why. I hope Seattle doesn’t sign him.. The thought of him in that nasty ass green and blue uni, makes me ill.

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