49ers trade linebacker Eli Harold to Lions for draft pick

Posted By on August 23, 2018

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Eli Harold (57) runs a drill during NFL football practice at the team’s headquarters Saturday, July 28, 2018, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers practically gave away their starting outside linebacker only 17 days before the regular-season opener.

On Thursday, the 49ers traded strong-side linebacker Eli Harold to the Detroit Lions for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2020. Harold must pass a physical before the trade becomes official. Head coach Kyle Shanahan met with reporters Thursday in the team’s auditorium to explain the Harold trade, but his explanation was complicated.

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This article has 89 Comments

  1. I remember that draft. Eli Harold was touted as a late first rounder. When he fell to the third round, Baalke could not resist selecting such a highly rated player who fell in the draft.
    .
    Then we learned about his bum toe, and how he could not push off with it. Another injured player who was a Baalke bust. During 2016, he was on a squad that gave up historic amounts of run yardage. Last season, he did OK, and this off season, he was penciled in as the starter.
    .
    Now, he is traded for a conditional 2020 7th round pick, which is as valuable as a box of rocks.
    .
    Sounds like the Niners are moving on from him because they have better replacements. Do not think the kneeling helped, but it was not the main reason he was traded. Now they have a roster spot for Dumervil, or better yet, a 53 cut player from a playoff team.
    .
    I wish him well.

      1. I am just happy that JL took my advice, and traded away a player to a desperate team that had a LB go down due to injury. The Niners got something for him, instead of the prospect of cutting him, and losing him for nothing.
        .
        Most posters thought it would be preposterous that the Niners would trade away bubble players. Now that is has happened, it justifies my previous comments.
        .
        Many have panned the value of a conditional 7th round pick 2 years from now, me included, but those 7th round picks do have value. They can be bundled with other picks to move up in the draft. The Niners now will have a player locked up under a rookie contract. If the scouts are competent like they seem to have been these last 2 years, they can find those diamonds in the rough like Adrian Colbert last season, and Julien Taylor this past draft.

        1. Sebbie…. You’re asserting the 9er GM ‘took your advice’? So, was he clueless until he read your posts? Just how did he ‘take’ your advice?

          1. Cassie, you , of all posters know exactly what I wrote, and the advocacy of trading away bubble players has finally born fruit. There have even been comments of multi player trades, which you have called delusional before.
            .
            Sure, JL will never acknowledge me, because that would be admitting he reads the media, but when he followed 9 out of 10 things I advocated before the 2017 draft, I do not need him thanking me for good advice. Actions speak louder than words. I am exceptionally proud of him obtaining 2018 second and third round picks, which has helped produce this last crop of players. I will confidently state that I read no other poster on this, or any other site, advocate for obtaining both 2018 second and third round picks.
            .
            Even Rocket, who I think has good football acumen, derided my posts as impossible. He thought that no team would spend a draft pick for a player in TC, when they should have just been patient, and waited until the 53 cuts so he would be obtained for free.
            .
            The Niners did get something for a player who they were planning to cut, however small the compensation, and they got to direct where that player landed, so he is out of their division.

            1. Son, I told you to place the other end of the hose back INSIDE the cabin of your vehicle.

              INSIDE! And keep the engine running please.

            2. John Lynch seeks out Sebbie’s posts, digests them (’cause John has no football acumen), and puts Sebbie’s wisdom into action. And that’s it.

              1. Couldn’t it be just common sense when two different guys arrive at the same conclusions?

        2. no one is readin your verbal diarrhoea from the Niners front office

          #stoppostingcampaignagainstpauliE

  2. Harold was afforded every opportunity to show he belonged, and after 4 years he was unable to get it done. Nzeocha’s SPARQ of 95.3 tells me he’s an athletic freak that lacks game experience and the instincts that come along with it. Something tells me a trade is on the horizon, but until then it looks as though the plan will be to play Nzeocha SAM in Over fronts and Pita OTTO in the Under fronts….

    1. SPARQ…. “A scoring system designed to measure sport-specific athleticism.”

      Is there a scoring system to measure sports blogging hubris…SBHBRS? Does quite roll off the tongue.

      2. Cassie

        I think that it’s a secret plan by some of our posters to fill enough to allow them to write their own dictionary
        LOL

        1. LOL. Thanks for this post. I’m imagining Razor as Milton in Office Space. Sitting somewhere in a janitorial closet without his red stapler wondering why ESPN hasn’t sent him his bi-weekly salary check yet.

          1. And I’m imagining The Defeated struggling to find true love and contentment after suffering a traumatic childhood experience. Coping and confronting her past to regain her self-worth, in order to deal with her life issues; so that she can find happiness that’s not at the expense of others….

    2. I really hope they find somebody else to play that position. Nzeocha might be athletic but I wouldn’t take a chance on a player with no experience if I’m trying to win this season. now I don’t know much about him but I bet other teams will exploit him every time especially in the first two games with Foster out. if the 49ers are smart they would trade for somebody or sign somebody to play that spot. We should know more against the colts but they don’t really have a good running game.

    4. A couple things worth noting:

      Nzeocha played almost exclusively at ILB for the Cowboys before the 49ers claimed him off their practice squad. The 49ers were lacking depth at ILB when they made the claim, thanks in large part to Malcom Smith’s season ending injury. However, from what I’ve heard, Saleh (and Shanny) immediately saw qualitites in Nzeocha that they felt would translate well at Strong Side Linebacker, so they converted him this off-season to SAM. It’s also worth noting that both Watson and Marsh have experience playing SAM (Watson in this defense. Watson played SAM in this defense last season, and Marsh played the position for a time while he was in Seattle.

      Also, the 49ers appear to have an excess of talent on the interior of the DL, with a number of versatile defenders, so Saleh has a number of different combinations he can deploy when the 49ers are in their base defense, not to mention that Shanny and Saleh have made it clear that they’d like to find ways to get their top 3 ILB’s (Foster, Smith, Warner) on the field together. I

      I think a combination of factors came together in the last month that made Harold expendable. I think, up until this last week, Eli still had an opportunity to prove he was too valuable to lose, but he simply never rose to the occasion (PFF gave Harold a pathetic 56.6 overall grade last season), and I think the Niners did well to get something in return for one of the last Baalke busts who are left on this overhauled roster, assuming Eli makes the Lions’ team, thus meeting the conditions required for the Niners to get a 2020 7th round pick in return, and with the kind of success we’ve seen out of a number of ShanaLynch’s late round draft picks, it’s at least something for a player who was clearly at the very end of his rope with the 49ers FO and coaching staff!

  3. 250 replies rehashed and debunked pretty much everything in this new column, including the kneeling insinuation. But here we go again?

    1. Yup… Would rather Grant expend some effort setting the stage for the (pretty important) third preseason game tomorrow.

      1. Without Harold, the Niners will never be able to stop the Colts ground game. That’s all you need to know.

    2. Har! We weren’t listening, so he wrote it all again. If you say it often enough and just keep repeating it………..
      >until Thursday he was the starter<
      Yeah, Lynch woke up Thursday with a wild hair up his ass and decided to dump Eli. No way he and coaches had been discussing it and looking for trade partner options for a while.
      Shanny gave reasons, but Grant ain’t buying. Hah! So what? Tempest in a tea pot.

  4. outside of Foster and Smith they don’t really have any other good LB and Smith is border line but has experience but injury prone. Hopefully Warner is as good as everybody seems to be stating but remember he’s a rookie. Coyle should not be starting. Korey Toomer should not start either or Pita, they are backup players at best. That’s leaves only Elijah Lee who should start but I read that he is apparently not doing so good in camp. So how can they the 49ers say they have depth at LB when they don’t or say they want more versatility when they don’t even have a starter. Now they don’t have a run stopper to go along with not having a pass rusher. I just wonder who called who the Lions or the 49ers to make this trade happen.

    1. Wonder how the linebackers coach(es) and Saleh see things. They have waaaaay more experience than I do.

      Are we set perfectly? Nope.

      Do we have the worst LBs in the game, and is our our LB corps coached by idiots? I suspect not. Will be a fun season!

    1. I feel like going to this game but it’s a 3 hour drive. Morris won’t waste his opportunity, and I’m excited to see what he’s able to put on film….

  7. Looking back with the clarity of hindsight, in 2015, Baalke chose Harold, but 5 spots later, the Eagles chose Jordan Hicks. While Harold was acting like a turnstile to running backs in 2016, Jordan Hicks had 95 tackles and 5 interceptions.
    .
    Granted, Hicks tore his Achilles halfway through the 2017 season, but he is returning, and they like his production.

      1. Please quit trolling.
        .
        I am just sticking to football, but if you want me to divert to politics, I will be happy to oblige.

  8. Capt. Andrew Luck tweeted
    Dearest mother —
    The prospectors are near. Burro tracks stop at the outskirts of town, which is littered with worn-down pick axes and gold-mining pans. Tomorrow, we shall battle. I fear this will be another conflict resulting in no meaningful victory for either side.
    — Andrew

    3. Capt. Andrew Luck’s new cyber-epistle
      Dearest mother —
      Our agent on the Pacific Coast, one Grant Cohn, has reported that the enemy has lost their best foot soldier, Elijah Harold. Without Elijah’s services, we are assured that the prospectors have no chance of stopping our Colt cavalry that will run all over them in short order. I am hopeful of a quick victory.
      — Andrew

  9. So if we are to believe everything that has been said and written about Eli Harold, he was a poor pass rusher but an adequate run stopper. Niner decide to move on from him. Okay. So why did they pick up 5th year on Ward and make him our highest paid defensive player? What are his redeeming qualities ? Getting in fights with opposing teams star WR and hoping for a double ejection ?

    Sad news today about McCain.

    2. Rollo,
      Will Trump apologize to McCain for his remark that he did not view McCain as a war hero because he was captured?
      I forgot, apologizing is beneath this president.

      1. I don’t see an apology forthcoming. Cadet BoneSpurs is a small , petty , vindictive man. Plus, he huddled up with his mob lawyer trying to keep his own a$$ out of prison

        1. And you know Donnie will more than likely continue to throw digs at McCain after he passes. The Orange Infant has zero class, zero morals.

  10. Eli Harold is getting more ink for getting traded then anything he has done on the football field.

    2. UC,
      Harold should write a “How To” book on how to be a starter in the NFL without ever being noticed.
      I was going to say that he won’t be missed, but he never appeared to begin with.

    1. So, really, your base set is your nickel, and so our SAM has to be able to do other things.

      How many times did we hear that from posters yesterday?

      1. Gotta get the clicks.

        On Tuesday Grant wrote, “That’s one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers — the most popular personnel group in today’s NFL. Most teams use it more than 70 percent of the time. Some teams use it almost 100 percent of the time. This is the evolution of NFL offense.

        Defense has evolved, too. To match up with the three-wide-receiver formations, teams use nickel defenses — five defensive backs. Now, a team’s nickel defense plays far more than its base defense, which has become almost an afterthought.”

        2 days later we’re being told that the defense has been weakened by trading a guy who will play between 30-0% of the snaps in a game, or perhaps it was because he was the last of the kneelers (a topic that definitely gets people talking).

        Gotta give him credit though because it worked. That post yesterday garnered more responses than those for the rest of the week combined.

        1. I wonder if Grant is auditioning for a major sports media position–perhaps at the national level. Maybe become one of the Danettes on the Dan Patrick show. If nothing else, Grant is good at churning out hot steaming takes…

  12. Eli’s going, hide your Tartt now.

    Sorry Razor, I’ll leave the corny punning to the master ;)

        1. Hey razor, ive seen several comments over the years that lead me to think you live in my neck of the woods…where do you live?

            1. I’m not sure if I want to know how you know that, Cassie…..
              I figured he was a Hoosier. I’m from the south end of the state. Evansville…..by way of Mendocino/Sonoma Counties

          2. Razor lives in the great state of Denial.

            You’ll find it on a map, just outside of Reality and Logic.

            1. It’s not a bird or a plane, nor Superman. It’s just Saquon Barkley and he’s down with a hammy.

              1. How’s your boy Guice looking there Razor? You know, the kid who was always banged up in college, and a guy who’s running style lended to being injury prone. Knock on wood, I never like to see injuries, EVER. Listen, don’t you worry about Saquon, he’ll be lighting it up as a rookie, you can count on that. NY Giants camp reports – Saquon looks superhuman. Wow! Eli says he’s never in his life seen legs like Saquon’s!

                Watch and enjoy the Barkley show! Not sure about whether it’s VS Sacksonville week 1, but it will come early in the season, that break out, hello NFL, here I am, my name is Saquon, kind of game!

              2. Of course, his very first run in a Giants uniform: “Barkley electrifies fans at MetLife Stadium, taking his first NFL handoff from Eli Manning, turning on the jets, and bursting through the Brown’s defense for a 39-yard run, down the sideline in front of the Giants’ bench.”

              1. Awful kind of you Dave, and I look forward to the next time I can welcome you and Lil Joe to our home.

  13. getting off the topic of Eli. I was just looking thru the team and I don’t know if I should be worried or just have a wait and see type thing with this team. if you look at the team who really scares you on the offense side of the ball. They have a second year TE who was hurt last year and is hurt again before the season starts. they did not bring in a veteran TE, so we have Garrett Celek and Cole Hikutini, they will not scare any defense. Then at RB they brought in Jerick McKinnon but he’s hurt as well but he’s a second tier RB who’s not going to gain lots of yards running the ball, so pretty much just a catching RB, which defense will know that. The backup RB are the same unless Morris has anything left then maybe will be a nice 1-2 punch, I can’t really count on Matt Breida due to that he’s hurt as well with a shoulder injury and he’s also a second year player.

    Then theirs WRS. we don’t have a true number 1 WR but we do have a few number 2-3-4 WR but it shouldn’t matter as long as they catch the ball and JG gets them the ball but most defenses will not be to scared with that group of WR’s. I know people will say that Shanny will have great schemes dialed up each week and things like that but if you don’t have any real talent, it won’t matter what kind of plays you draw up. Defenses will either stack the box and dare JG to throw the ball or they just drop everybody back and cover the pass and dare the 49ers to run the ball. The offense line should be good this year and should play better as the year goes on.

    They really should of brought in more experienced WR’s, another TE and a better all around RB. Morris may be that RB if he has anything left in the tank then the McKinnon signing would be ok. maybe its just me but lets hope I’m wrong and all those players step up but you shouldn’t hope for that, you should already know that they will and unfortunately at this point IDK.

    1. It’s year two of the experiment, SMDH. The Rams are clearly winning the division and stacked themselves up for a short window to win it all. We should be positioned to take over once they lose against the salary cap. Give it some time.

    2. “if you look at the team who really scares you on the offense side of the ball.”

      I think you forgot about Jimmy Garoppolo. Goodwin has to be accounted for. Pettis is good at getting open. Trent Taylor is a slot machine.

  14. Not going to hold my breath on SF going to the playoffs in ’18. Based on how the team played in ’17, 6 wins, and 6 very close losses, the team should improve again, 2-3 more W’s, with the personnel added and more experience under Shanny. Quite amazing with the incredible turnover of personnel in the organization and of course injuries, injuries, injuries. Best part about all of this is the ongoing silence from the team ownership group about all things football. Can’t wait for next season’s roster moves, realistic expectation of double digit W’s, and a return to playoffs. If Eli can’t make the Lions’ roster, do we really care if SF let him go? Only time will tell if this was a good move, notwithstanding the hysteria presented and debated here. Looking forward to the SF @ AZ game!

    NOTE: The US Surgeon General advises reading all comments on this web site to be hazardous to your mental health and enjoyment of the NFL…

    1. Mood,
      Thanks for the link.
      Frank Gore was the heart and soul for the 49ers. I’m not surprised that he is still playing in the league.

      I wonder if Grant will ever say he was wrong for his comment that Frank Gore’ legs were gone? (paraphrase).
      Won’t hold my breath.

    2. I hope the Niners realize that they may need a workhorse, considering the fragility of the present RBs.
      .
      I hope they look at the injury list of the Dolphins, and trade a needed player for Frank Gore.
      .
      Automatically, he would be the best pass blocking RB on the team, which would help JG stay healthy.

      1. Oh, the same Frank Gore who has averaged 3.8 YPC over the last 3 seasons, with 9 fumbles, and who’s longest run over the last 2 years is 22 yards? That’s not a typo …. twenty two yards Seb, and that’s a huge drop off, which is to be expected for a 34 (now 35) years old RB!

        Face reality. The Frank Gore we knew, the greatest 49ers RB of all time, and one of my all-time favorite 49ers, is nothing but a shell of his former self over the last few years, and, barring an injury to Kenyan Drake injury, will likely see more drop off in terms of his production.

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