SANTA CLARA – Kicker Robbie Gould is set to make a career-high salary for the upcoming season, but he is in no hurry to sign the contract.
Gould, the 49ers’ franchise player, has not signed the one-year, $4.971 deal, and he has demanded a trade. The 49ers have told him they have no interest in seeing him kick for any other team.
Gould did not participate in the 49ers' offseason program, and he is not likely to be in Santa Clara when the 49ers report for training camp in late-July, either. That seems to be OK with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, as long as Gould is available when the 49ers need him for Week 1 of the regular season, Sept. 8, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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“If he doesn’t want to show up until Week 1, it is what it is,” Shanahan said on Tuesday. “I’ll take a very good kicker at any time, whether it’s Week 1 or on third down, just one play before we’re going to have to kick.
“Robbie is a hell of a kicker. Nothing’s really changed on that. I really hope he shows up by the time we play Week 1.”
Players do not begin collecting their base salaries until Week 1 of the regular season. If Gould's holdout continues into the regular season, he would forfeit $292,000 for every regular-season game he stays away.
Gould, 36, a 14-year professional, ranks second all-time in field-goal accuracy at 87.745 percent. Only Justin Tucker (90.114 percent) ranks above him in NFL history.
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Jonathan Brown is the only kicker the 49ers have under contract. Brown, 26, has spent time the past three offseasons with the Cincinnati Bengals.
