The 49ers aren’t sweating the absence of kicker Robbie Gould from mandatory minicamp.
Gould, a free agent who has not signed the franchise tag, may not show up any time soon, and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan indicated today that he’s fine with that.
“I’d much rather Robbie be here and doing everything,” Shanahan said. “I love having him around. But I understand how he feels and what’s going on. If that’s the way he’d like to do it, no problem at all. All of us want it to be perfect the way we want it, but if he doesn’t want to show up until Week One, it is what it is. I’ll take a very good kicker any time, whether it’s Week One or on third down just one play before we have to kick. Robbie’s a hell of a kicker and nothing’s changed on that. I just hope he shows up by the time we play Week One.”
The 49ers don’t sound like they’re planning to sign Gould to a long-term contract. It seems likely that Gould will simply sign the one-year, $5 million franchise tender. Maybe not until the first week of the season.