Lions Trade G Laken Tomlinson To 49ers
The Lions have traded guard Laken Tomlinson to the 49ers, according to Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Detroit will receive a 2019 fifth-round pick in the swap. 
Tomlinson entered the 2016 campaign as the Lions’ starting left guard but eventually lost his job to rookie Graham Glasgow and only returned to the starting lineup when Glasgow was shifted to center to fill in for the injured Travis Swanson. The Lions were hoping that he would pick things up this summer, but he fell behind both Glasgow and Joe Dahl on the depth chart. Glasgow projects to start once again at left guard with free agent pickup T.J. Lang on the other side.
The Niners, meanwhile, have been on the lookout for guard help and Tomlinson might have a chance to start in Week 1. The right guard spot is up for grabs while left guard Joshua Garnett is likely to be sidelined for the start of the year.
Tomlinson, 25, appeared in all 16 regular games for the Lions in each of his two NFL seasons. In both years, he had atrocious scores from Pro Football Focus. Last year, Tomlinson’s 43.9 mark slotted him as one of the ten worst qualified guards in the entire NFL.
Between this trade and the Cameron Erving swap, we have seen two former first round offensive lineman traded for fifth-round picks in the same week. In total, we have seen a dozen trades go down in the month of August.
Mostert Pushing For 49ers Spot
- 49ers running back Raheem Mostert is making a late run for a roster spot, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. The well-traveled 25-year-old is having a strong preseason while veteran Tim Hightower has missed two of three games. In Hightower’s lone appearance, he lost a fumble and had three carries for minus-one yard. In Mostert’s last outing, he had 130 all purpose yards and flashed serious skills as a pass catcher.
Latest On Joe Haden
Before the Browns released cornerback Joe Haden on Wednesday, they were attempting to trade him for a fourth-round pick that could have become a third-rounder based on playing time, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports (Twitter links). The Browns were also willing to eat $4MM of Haden’s salary, but they were still unable to find a taker for the two-time Pro Bowler.
Now that Haden’s on the open market won’t cost a team draft-pick compensation to acquire, interest is pouring in for the 28-year-old. Twelve to 13 clubs are in on Haden, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com writes, and La Canfora adds that he’s likely to land somewhere within the next 24 hours. Along with the previously reported Steelers, Dolphins, Saints and Chiefs, the Eagles and 49ers are chasing Haden, who’s currently weighing offers for one year and multiple seasons, according to La Canfora.
Haden would be the third notable addition at corner in recent weeks for the Eagles, who picked up Ronald Darby in a trade with the Bills and Dexter McDougle in a deal with the Jets earlier this month. The team is still relatively thin at the position even with those two in the fold, though, especially after releasing Ron Brooks on Wednesday.
The 49ers are the only club in on Haden without a realistic playoff shot this season, and it seems unlikely Haden would sign with a non-contender after spending the first seven years of his career with bottom-feeding Cleveland. Indeed, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets that it would be shocking if Haden chose the Niners. Unsurprisingly, Haden would be far and away the most accomplished corner on a San Francisco team that has another ex-Brown, K’Waun Williams, as well as Dontae Johnson, Rashard Robinson and Keith Reaser among its top four options. Those CBs have combined for just 22 NFL starts, while Haden has 81 to his name.
49ers Waive Sean Porter
San Francisco 49ers
49ers Trade TE Vance McDonald To Steelers
The 49ers have traded tight end Vance McDonald to the Steelers, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. San Francisco receives a 2018 fourth-round pick in the swap while the Steelers get a fifth-round choice back in return.
McDonald was projected to be the Niners’ starter at tight end this year. Now, they’ll turn to fifth-round rookie George Kittle and veterans Garrett Celek and Logan Paulsen to fill the void.
The Niners signed McDonald to a five-year, $35MM extension in December, but the new regime is not as wild about him as the old one was. New GM John Lynch shopped McDonald during the 2017 draft and was surprisingly candid about it when reports surfaced.
“That’s the reality of new regimes coming in, new schemes,” Lynch in April. “That’s not to say he can’t fit into our scheme. Frankly we received some interest from other people, then we did explore some options throughout the league with Vance. And nothing ended up happening, so Vance will come back and have an opportunity to compete.”
The Steelers tried to shake up the tight end position last year by signing Ladarius Green, but things did not go according to plan as he was hampered by injuries and concussions. This year, they’ve were planning to use Jesse James as their primary TE with support from David Johnson and Xavier Grimble. They weren’t completely satisfied with that bunch, however, and they capitalized on an opportunity add another experienced starter.
McDonald finished the 2016 on IR, but he closed out with a career-high 24 receptions for 391 yards and four touchdowns. Those numbers aren’t league-leading material, but it’s impressive that he was able to get going at all in one of the league’s worst passing attacks. We’re about to find out what McDonald is capable of doing in one of the league’s top aerial offenses.
Tank Carradine Likely To Make 49ers Roster
- 49ers defensive end Tank Carradine has played sparingly since being selected in the second-round of the 2013 draft. With only 36 games and 57 tackles over four seasons, some wondered whether Carradine could be looking for a new gig following the preseason. However, based on an evaluation from defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, it sounds like the 28-year-old is a lock to make the roster. “With Tank, when I say ‘elite,’ I’m talking as a run-down, six-technique, someone who just can really dominate his edge and own the line of scrimmage,” Saleh said on NBC Sports Bay Area (via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com).
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Kyle Shanahan On Ahmad Brooks' Release
- The 49ers released linebacker Ahmad Brooks on Friday rather than closer to the Sept. 2 deadline because they wanted to give him a better chance to hook on elsewhere before the season opens, head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters (via Mike Florio Pro Football Talk). “Doing it right now is more just in the best interest for Ahmad,” Shanahan said. “It’s a real tough decision. [General Manager] John [Lynch] and I had gone back and forth with it the last few days. Once we really came to the conclusion he wasn’t going to be a part of our final 53, we weren’t going to keep him around just to let him know [eight] days from now. So, we know there’s a lot of teams that will be interested in him. So we gave him that opportunity to go out and find them.” Brooks should indeed draw interest in free agency, having posted no fewer than five sacks in any of his eight seasons with the 49ers. He also missed just eight games during that span.
Details On Sen'Derrick Marks' Deal
- We now have details on the 49ers‘ deal with new defensive lineman Sen’Derrick Marks, courtesy of ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). It’s a pact with $1MM in base salary, $600K in per-game roster bonuses, and $400K available through incentives. Most notably, the deal includes no guaranteed cash, so the Niners won’t be on the hook for his deal if he does not make the 53-man cut on Sept. 2.
49ers Release Ahmad Brooks
San Francisco is parting ways with its longest tenured defensive player. The 49ers formally announced that they have released outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks. The team initially tried to trade Brooks, but they were unable to find a suitable deal. 
“We would like to thank Ahmad for his nine years of service and contributions to the 49ers,” said 49ers general manager John Lynch. “In that time, he played a significant role on some formidable defensive units that helped this team achieve great success. We feel good about the depth and competition along our defensive front and believe that by making this decision now it will give Ahmad a head start on exploring his options with other teams. We wish him and his family nothing but the best.”
The 33-year-old was in the midst of a battle with Eli Harold for the starting strongside linebacker job. Apparently, he lost his footing on the gig as Harold started against the Broncos in the team’s most recent preseason game. Harold is ten years Brooks’ junior and comes at a fraction of the price. Free agent addition Dekoda Watson and rookie Pita Taumoepenu are also expected to contribute at SLB.
Brooks has either led or tied the team in sacks every season since 2013. In 2016, Brooks registered 6.0 sacks and 53 total tackles. Across his eight years with the team, he amassed 51.5 sacks and never had less than 6.0 in any given season. He also played through injury and missed only five regular season games during that span.
Brooks is still putting up numbers, but he has slowed down a little with age. Last year, he graded out as just the 87th best edge rusher in the NFL out of 110 qualified players, per Pro Football Focus. In each of the last three years, Brooks has finished near the bottom of PFF’s edge defender rankings and has not graded out as a top-20 type since 2012. He’ll draw interest on the open market, but he won’t command the kind of salary he was getting in SF.
Brooks was slated to carry a $6.1MM+ cap hit for the coming season. Instead of keeping the veteran and having him take up roughly 3.5% of the salary cap, the SF will save $5.3MM while eating $848K in dead money.
News of Brooks’ release was first reported by Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee.
Latest On Colin Kaepernick
If the league office really wants Colin Kaepernick to be employed, they have ways to make a team sign him, Mike Florio of PFT writes. Florio points to the league’s efforts to get Michael Sam, the league’s first openly gay draft pick, on to a practice squad three years ago. Ultimately, after making a number of calls, the Cowboys agreed to give Sam a gig.
The NFL has been known to make wink-wink deals with teams when they want to get something done, and the league could encourage a team to sign Kaepernick by promising a future chance to host the Super Bowl or an exemption from having to do HBO’s Hard Knocks or something similar. But, with the season opener rapidly closing in, it remains to be seen whether commissioner Roger Goodell will pull some strings to get Kaepernick a contract.
Here’s the latest on No. 7:
- Mike Sando of ESPN.com spoke with a number of coaches and talent evaluators to try and get some insight on the Kaepernick situation. Multiple people indicated that they are unsure about Kaepernick’s commitment to football since they have not heard from him directly. “Everyone else is worried about him working, but I never hear him say how much he wants to work,” this voter said. “That hits a chord. People want to hear, ‘I want to work in the league, I want to work for you, I want to do this more than anything.’ It’s like with Tim Tebow — he’d rather be on the outside switching sports than be relegated to the [third team] and getting 20 percent of the reps.” Some also indicated that a similarly talented player playing a different position would have been signed by now. Kaepernick is left waiting, some say, because teams expect leadership from quarterbacks and there is fear that his personal agenda could come ahead of the team’s overall purpose.
- There was a sizable rally outside of NFL headquarters this week in support of Kaepernick, but the commissioner informed the “United We Stand” coalition that he could not meet at this time (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson). Although the group was unable to have an audience with Goodell, the rally did succeed in generating a great deal of media attention. The buzz generated from the rally may put some additional pressure on the league office to find Kaepernick a team for 2017.
- The NFLPA has been in contact with Kaepernick’s reps.