49ers Franchise Tag Kicker Robbie Gould

by
Former Writers
February 27, 2019

Keith Allison via Flickr

49ers Franchise Tag Kicker Robbie Gould

Nothing Gold can stay. At least, that’s what people used to say. Turns out, if you’re the San Francisco 49ers, something Gould can stay. Which makes sense considering that the Niners’ colors are red and gold. In Chicago, however, something Gould cannot stay. Especially when you cut him. What am I talking about? Allow me to explain

Game of tag officially underway: 49ers placed their franchise tag on kicker Robbie Gould today, per league sources. SF is first team this off-season to use its franchise tag.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 26, 2019

On Tuesday, February 26, the San Francisco 49ers used their franchise tag on kicker Robbie Gould. The 49ers signed Gould before the 2017-2018 season. Gould has performed spectacularly for the 49ers, leading the NFL in Field Goals and Field Goal Percentage last season. In fact, Gould has been the best kicker in the league for the last two seasons.

Since the start of 2017:

Most field goals made:
1. Robbie Gould: 72
2. Justin Tucker: 69
3. Greg Zuerlein: 65

Best field goal percentage:
1. Robbie Gould: 96.0%
2. Michael Badgley: 93.8%
3. Graham Gano: 93.5%

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) February 26, 2019

Considering those stats, it makes sense that the 49ers would franchise tag Robbie Gould. The 49ers used the non-exclusive tag on Gould. This means that, while other teams can make offers for Gould, the 49ers have the right to match any offers he is made. Generally, players stay with the teams that place these tags on them. So, for the 49ers, it seems that something Gould can stay.

So, What does This have to do with Chicago?

Great question. From 2005-2015, Robbie Gould kicked for the Chicago Bears. In fact, he is Chicago’s all-time scoring leader. For some unknown reason, the Bears cut Gould before the 2016 season. How did this decision work out for Chicago? Well, their most recent kicker was Cody Parkey. Hmm, now where have I heard that name before?

Oh yeah.

Upright. Crossbar. Out. pic.twitter.com/nWtpr4LyGB

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) January 7, 2019

Double-Doink.

So clearly, Chicago’s decision to cut Gould really worked out for them. The Bears intend to release Parkey. I bring this up not just to taunt Bears’ fans (although that’s a perk), but because there were many rumors about Gould possibly returning to Chicago. Rumors were flying around saying things like Gould loved playing in Chicago, wanted to move his family back there, and similar things. Obviously we Niner fans were scared at the thought of losing our Goulden boy. This move by the Niners is comforting as we hopefully are putting the final pieces on a righted ship. We don’t want to get rid of one of the few parts of our team that worked last season.

Larger Implications of this Move

The 49ers are the first team to use their franchise tag this offseason. Now that the first tag has been used, it will certainly be interesting to see how other teams use theirs. One of the most prominent cases will be whether or not the Eagles use their franchise tag on Nick Foles. This, and many other stories, will be interesting to follow over the next few weeks of the NFL offseason.