http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/26586979/kicker-gould-ditches-talks-wants-49ers It's obvious he wants to come home. I'm fine with giving up a late round pick for him and giving us all peace of mind for the position heading into 2019. Do it, Pace!
I don't know, man. I think this might just be a lot of posturing. I'm hesitant to get on board with any kind of speculation on whether or not he's even really available for trade. He was negotiating a long-term deal - so if he wants out, it's only because that broke down. Therefore, the comments from Gould and his agent might be aimed at leverage for that long-term deal, rather than demanding a trade out. For the record, I haven't seen any actual citation from either Gould or his agent that says he's demanding a trade - only that he's not satisfied with how the conversations have gone, and he'll hold out until the season opener. Edit: Also, you get into logistics, if he is actually available for trade. The 9'ers have the non-exclusive tender on him, which would normally dictate two 1st round picks. Can they accept less (I'm not familiar with how that works, with timelines, etc), and if so, how much less will they accept? Then, once he's traded, isn't the new team on the hook for his $5 mil franchised contract? Just stuff to consider... I want him back in Chicago. He never should have been let go. But I don't want to get my hopes up, yet. Mack was available for trade last year, after months of awful, public negotiations. I'm not ready to say that Gould is up for trade after one tiff...
I would like to see it, but if he's wanting to get a long term deal is that even possible for Pace to commit that kind of money? Shit they let him go because they couldn't afford him on a talentless team, and this team is quite the opposite. The only difference now is he hopefully learned how important that position is and how difficult that position is to fill.
First he needs to sign the franchise tender, then one of three things can happen. 1) he plays on the franchise tag 2) he negotiates a long term contract with another team, which would give the 49ers the choice if matching that contract. If they don't they get (2) first round draft picks 3) his rights can be traded at any time after he signs the tender for any compensation the two teams agree to, then the new team owns his rights under the tag...in other words, he can still negotiate with other teams. The thing is, the non exclusive is a no brainer because no team is giving up high draft pick(s) for a kicker.
Would I love to see it happen? Sure. Is it going to? Not sure. John Lynch, though he signed some practice kicker on the Bengals to a 2 year deal, said the other day he intends to have Gould on his 2019 roster. On AM 670 yesterday, Hub Arkush (granted--I think this dude's a clown) believes Minnesota is going to get involved, because they too need a kicker, and believe they can turn it around with Kirk Cousins. And as some people pointed out--Minnesota is a lot closer to his family in Chicago than San Francisco. Ultimately, I don't believe its going to happen. When Pace got here, in his defense--he talked about changing culture. We know Gould as the kicker and kickass dude in the communities (google the charities he does and how he helps people, he's not another dbag in the league). To put this in context, Gould was let go and shitwad stuck around for another year. That was all John Fox. Because he brought in his guy Connor Barf, then talked about how he's more comfortable with his guy. But that should tell you something; Fox gets his guy, Pace purges a longtime ego for his rebuild. And yes, I'm aware of the cap, but 2016 was Jay's last year of guaranteed money, and it was minimal, or 10 mi. Many thought the bears could have eaten it and moved on with Brian Hoyer......it was doable at the time but Pace kept shitwad who got hurt after 4 or 5 games. I disagree with the latter. After Gould's shitty 2015, no kicker with those stats was worth a steady 5 million per year; Gould was a top 3 paid kicker, and his shitty season was not worth that. If you would have been the devils advocate--harping that Gould would go 83-87 or whatever ridiculous numbers he put up in NY and SF, I'd let you have this one. But it's revisionist history because nobody knew in 2015 he'd do that in 2016-2018. Totally understood the move at the time and agreed with it. Loved Robbie, but nobody predicted this. We all thought he was toast after missing the simple ones he did in 2015. So why the huge turn around? Why the shitty 2015 then 'good as Gould' standard after? And why no talk of any discussions between the bears and 49ers? The reunion is too perfect. SF will have to rescind the tag to trade him, and the bears would have to extend him 3 years, probably spreading out the guaranteed $. But it hasn't happened. I don't think Pace wants Gould here, but after the Khalil Mack restructure the money is there for this year, because the bears didn't splash in FA the way some thought. We knew Fox didn't want him, because Barf was his guy. So Pace got to duck that PR hit while purging an Emery/Trestman guy.
