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Pro Football Focus ranked the five worst linebacker contracts on Wednesday, which lists the five most overpaid players at that position. As a bit of a shocker, San Francisco 49ers inside linebacker
NaVorro Bowman came in as the third worst in the league.
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Bowman was arguably the team's best player last season. On a team that didn't have much in the way of accomplishments, Bowman excelled during his first full season back from a devastating knee injury.
One of the factors in
Pro Football Focus' list was length of contract. Bowman has three years remaining on his contract and averaged over $6 million per year during the first two years. Over the next three seasons, that average increases to over $9.5 million per year.
"Bowman returned from injury last year after missing the entire 2014 season, but wasn't quite the same player he was in 2013," said Nathan Jahnke of
Pro Football Focus. "Against the run he was still a dominant, however; his 50 run stops were second-most for inside linebackers. Part of what made Bowman an All-Pro in the past was his play in coverage, but the 49er wasn't anywhere close to as good in coverage in 2015 as he had been in the past. From 2011 to 2013, he averaged six passes defended per year, but only had one in 2015. His 9.3 yards per catch allowed was a career-high. His 604 receiving yards allowed was fifth-most for all linebackers. He also recorded a career-high 19 missed tackles. With the NFL being more of a passing game, a linebacker's coverage skills are more important than ever, and Bowman wasn't as successful there as he used to be."
"Bowman is getting paid like a top-four linebacker over each of the next three years. If his play in coverage can improve to what it used to be, he deserves that contract," Jahnke continues to say.
RELATED NaVorro Bowman ranked No. 61 on NFL Top 100 list
On a team with over $49 million in cap room, a contract line Bowman's, which is the second highest on the team behind only
QB Colin Kaepernick, is easy to absorb. Bowman's 61.1 overall grade by
Pro Football Focus ranked him 51st among NFL linebackers. However, he ranked 20th in run-defense with an 84.8 grade. It was his 38.6 pass-defense grade that really hurt his average.
We reached out to
Pro Football Focus analyst and 49ers media correspondent Jeff Deeney to get
his opinion on the ranking. "Very good vs. run in '15, very poor in cvg (3rd worst ILB cvg grade, 3rd most yds, 90.3% catch rate). Expect better this year," said Deeney via Twitter.
"I feel great. Adding on days on top of days," said Bowman earlier this offseason. "I feel it sometimes, but it's nowhere near what I went through last year with the constant attention I had to put on it. This year, I'm able to wake up and ride. That's definitely a better thing that it was last year."
Lastly, the site factored in the season in which the team can cut the player and have more cap savings than dead money. For Bowman, that technically would have been this year. However,
Pro Football Focus lists it as next year since deadlines have passed and his dead money would drop significantly from a $5.1 million hit in 2016 to a $2.1 million hit in 2017.
Bowman's contract ranks as the third highest in team cap hit among inside linebackers, behind only the Pittsburgh Steelers'
Lawrence Timmons and the Green Bay Packers'
Clay Matthews. It also ranks eighth among all linebackers. As far as the base salary for Bowman, it ranks fourth among inside linebackers and just 17th among all linebackers.
In 2015, Bowman was in on 1,126 defensive snaps. 627 of those were against the pass while 499 were against the run. He compiled 154 tackles – which led the league – 2.5 sacks, and two passes defended last season.
NaVorro Bowman's contract at a glance
Signed through: 2018
Average remaining base salary per year: $7.1 million
Average remaining cap hit per year: $9.54 million
2016 base salary: $5.85 million
2017 base salary: $6.75 million
2018 base salary: $8.7 million
2016 cap hit: $9.554 million
2017 cap hit: $8.954 million
2018 cap hit: $10.104 million
* Cap numbers from Spotrac.com
The San Francisco 49ers won't list their inactive players until 90 minutes before kickoff. However, running back Elijah Mitchell isn't expected to suit up against the Arizona Cardinals due to a knee injury.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Mitchell and wide receiver Jauan Jennings (shin) were expected to miss today's action. The 49ers listed Mitchell as questionable and Jennings as doubtful, making the latter's absence less surprising.
RELATED: Deebo Samuel expected to play vs. Cardinals
The good news is that wide receiver Deebo Samuel is expected to
The San Francisco 49ers have released the list of inactive players for their Week 4 matchup at home against the Arizona Cardinals. These players will not suit up for the game.
Inactives:
QB Brandon Allen
RB Elijah Mitchell (knee)
DT Kalia Davis
LB Jalen Graham
WR Jauan Jennings (shin)
CB Anthony Brown
OL Nick Zakelj
On Friday, the 49ers listed four players, LB Dre Greenlaw (ankle), WR Deebo Samuel (ribs, knee), LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (ankle), and RB Elijah Mitchell (heel), as questionable, and WR Jauan Jennings (shin) as doubtful. Greenlaw, Samuel, and Flannigan-Fowles are active.
Samuel came into the week with two injuries, but the knee was the bigger concern,
The San Francisco 49ers plan to keep the band together for a long time. The team announced that it has agreed to multi-year contract extensions with head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
Details of the contracts are currently unknown. Before the new deals, Shanahan had been signed through the 2025 season, while Lynch was locked up through the 2024 season. They will now remain with the team longer than that.
The 49ers Communications staff provided the following rundown.
The duo joined the 49ers in February of 2017 and have since led the organization to the postseason three times, claimed two NFC West division titles (2019 & 2022), reached three NFC Championship games (2019 & 2021-22) and a trip to Super Bowl
Last week, the San Francisco 49ers announced they had signed head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch to multi-year contract extensions, keeping the team's brain trust together for the foreseeable future. However, Shanahan revealed that the deals had been finalized for a while.
"We did it before the Pittsburgh game (Week 1), so I had already celebrated with my family and stuff like that, which is huge," Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday. "I feel very grateful just being a coach anywhere for a long time. I know what that means, and I'm extremely grateful for that, to have that opportunity, and mainly for my family to be somewhere for so long, which is cool."
The extensions had nothing to do with the 49ers' 3-0 start to the 2023 season. That's