NFC Notes: 49ers, Glennon, Bears

Longtime running backs coach Tom Rathman won’t return to the 49ers‘ staff despite Kyle Shanahan‘s interest in retaining him. Shanahan recently gave Rathman’s job to veteran running backs instructor Bobby Turner after promising he would upon landing a head coaching position. Rathman will pursue options elsewhere as a result.

I’m not going to be back,” Rathman said, via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “I feel like it’s the best for everybody if I just parted and let those guys do their thing and take me out of the equation so that nobody’s uncomfortable. I’m looking to coach running backs and that’s what I want to do. I’m just going to wait for the next opportunity and go for it when it happens.”

Shanahan and new GM John Lynch met with Rathman on Thursday in an attempt to find another position for him, but the 54-year-old coach didn’t think such a role existed that made sense. Rathman coached the 49ers’ backs since 2009 and previously served on Steve Mariucci’s staff from 1997-2002, doing so after a playing career highlighted by starting roles on two 49ers Super Bowl champions. Rathman told Maiocco he would take a year off if necessary but wants to stay in the NFL coaching ranks.

Here’s more out of San Francisco and other NFC cities.

  • Should Colin Kaepernick not opt out of his 49ers deal, Maiocco expects the team to release him to avoid being on the hook for a $14.9MM salary in 2017. The sides could then discuss another contract, with Kaepernick potentially opening a door to a return by contacting Lynch recently. Lynch and Kaepernick are expected to meet in the near future. Kaepernick has vacillated on the opt-out decision. He would generate interest on the market and add another big name to the list of potentially available quarterbacks, joining Jay Cutler, Tony Romo and Jimmy Garoppolo. The 49ers have been linked to both Cutler and Garoppolo, along with Kirk Cousins, who could be Shanahan’s first choice.
  • Speaking of Cutler, the Bears extending the polarizing talent in 2014 came against the preference of members of the then-Marc Trestman-led coaching staff, but then-GM Phil Emery made the move anyway, John Mullen of CSNChicago.com writes. The Bears are now likely to move on from Cutler after eight seasons since the aforementioned seven-year, $126MM contract leaves them a 2017 escape hatch.
  • Mullen adds the conventional sense is Brian Hoyer will return to the Bears as a stopgap solution. Hoyer threw for 300 yards in four of five starts before going down with a broken arm, completing 67 percent of his passes and not throwing an interception. The UFA passer could have options as a backup plan for other teams, however, forcing the Bears to up the ante if they want to keep the 31-year-old passer. Bringing Hoyer back as a mentor-type player for a to-be-determined draft pick — and short-term starter — strikes Mullen as a reasonable idea due to the team’s positive view of him as a veteran leader.
  • Mike Glennon serves as another UFA option, but has an interesting profile. At least six teams inquired about Glennon’s availability during the 2014 draft to Buccaneers GM Jason Licht, per FanRag Sports’ Roy Cummings, but that interest diminished as years passed. Glennon drew “a couple” of trade inquiries in the 2015 draft, and the soon-to-be backup quarterback did not draw any offers during the ’16 draft or before last season’s trade deadline, Cummings notes. However, his sample size — 18 starts, with 30 TD passes and 15 INTs mixed in — makes him a less volatile commodity than Brock Osweiler in Cummings’ mind. Glennon is expected to draw interest as a free agent, with the bidding potentially going as high as $15MM per year. The Jets are reportedly intrigued by Jameis Winston‘s former backup.
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