San Francisco 49ers have officially opened the season of franchise tags. The team announced that they have tagged their kicker Robbie Gould, preventing him from becoming a free agent in 2019.
Gould is coming off a great 2018 season, in which he made 33 field goals out of 34 attempted while converting 27 out of 29 extra points.
Thanks to the tag, the 36-year-old will earn around $5 million in 2019, which will make him the NFL’s second-highest-paid kicker behind Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens.
Before getting tagged, Robbie Gould was reportedly keen on re-joining the Chicago Bears, where he spent the first 11 years of his career. Bears are expected to release Cody Parkey and viewed Gould as a perfect solution. However, Chicago will now have to look somewhere else.
“Once a Bear always a Bear,” – said Gould over the weekend. “I truly mean that. This is where I spent 11 years of my life playing for an awesome organization. I’ve developed a lot of great relationships throughout the city but also the organization, just like I’ve done in New York, just like I’ve done in San Francisco. Will it happen? I don’t know.”
After going undrafted in the 2005 NFL Draft, Robbie Gould had short stints with New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens before joining Chicago Bears. During his 11 years with the franchise, he earned one Pro Bowl appearance and one First-Team All-Pro honors. Bears released Gould in 2015, and he spent 2016 with the New York Giants before signing with the 49ers in 2017.
Gould’s NFL career stats include 350 made field goals on 87.5 percent completion alongside 246 touchbacks.
