NFL
Niners Trade Eli Harold
In what came as somewhat of a surprise, the San Francisco 49ers have traded starting Eli Harold to the Detroit Lions. In exchange, the Niners are reported to have picked up a 7th round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
“Our entire organization would like to thank @EliHarold_ for his hard work and contributions to our team and the Bay Area community over the last three years. We wish Eli and his wife, Kelsey, nothing but the best in the years to come." – GM John Lynch pic.twitter.com/PmIoruIHuQ
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) August 23, 2018
San Francisco drafted Eli Harold in the 3rd round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Harold went on to play in all 48 games during his three seasons with the 49ers. He had a combined total of 85 tackles and five sacks during the regular season.
Coach Kyle Shanahan Discusses Trade
Kyle Shanahan had this to say during today’s press conference:
“It was a tough decision, love Eli. It’s been great to get to know him over the last year. But as this week went, just looking into closer to how our final 53 is going to work out, I won’t say it was just about Eli. It has to do a lot with how we think we’re going to use people on game day. Who’s going to be up between defensive linemen, outside linebackers, inside linebackers.
All three of those positions kind of play together and we’ve got some numbers issues at certain spots. We kind of saw how it was probably going to go and we wanted to do what was best Eli and best for this organization and make that decision now.”
Harold has one year remaining on his rookie contract. With the Niners now apparently not seeing him as one of their long-term players, now was as good a time as any to make the trade. Players such as Mark Nzeocha, Dekoda Watson, and Pita Taumoepenu will now have the opportunity to make an impact with two preseason games remaining.
Nzeocha will take over the starting SAM position from Eli Harold during the upcoming game against the Indianapolis Colts.
