In 2015, the Lions selected Laken Tomlinson with the 28th overall pick in the draft.
In late August 2017, the 49ers acquired Tomlinson for a 2019 fifth-round pick, and he ended up starting 15 games at left guard.
The deadline to pick up Tomlinson's fifth-year option (the 2019 season) is Thursday, but the 49ers won't be doing that.
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On Tuesday evening, John Lynch explained why during a radio interview on KNBR 680.
"Those options are tricky deals ... I actually pulled Laken in here (Lynch's office) yesterday and had a great talk with him -- we're gonna work towards making Laken a part of us for the long-term future," Lynch said. "The numbers are different at each position. Offensive guard was a little skewed because they include all offensive lineman -- tackles get paid a lot so that number was extremely high.
"But we've already been talking with Laken's guys (representatives) about trying to make something happen, and we'll see if that goes into next year."
Tomlinson's fifth-year option would have been $9.625 million.
San Francisco 49ers
As NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco wrote on Wednesday:
There is a belief that the 49ers are in a much better spot than they were a year ago at the guard positions. Among Laken Tomlinson, Jonathan Cooper, Joshua Garnett, Zane Beadles and Erik Magnuson, the 49ers believe they can put two capable guards on the field on either side of center Weston Richburg.
On Monday, San Francisco did exercise the fifth-year option on Arik Armstead -- the 17th overall pick in 2015 -- worth $9.046 million.