The San Francisco 49ers decided not to pick up their option on Elvis Dumervil’s contract earlier this offseason, making him a free agent. However, general manager John Lynch has kept the door open on a reunion with the veteran, who could still be an option the team can turn to after not drafting a pass rusher during the draft.
“Yeah, I think it could be,” Lynch said per Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “I’m sure a lot of (teams) are looking at it as such. Elvis isn’t a guy who at this stage of his career really needs to be around in an offseason. He’s a professional. He takes tremendous pride in how he trains, how he eats and all those things. So he’ll be ready.”
The 34-year-old Dumervil had a strong debut season with the Niners last year as he recorded a team-high 6.5 sacks. DeForest Buckner and Solomon Thomas were the next closest players with just three sacks apiece. But despite the team recording the sixth-fewest sacks (30) in the league, they opted not to address that need during the draft.
The good news for San Francisco is that Dumervil doesn’t appear to be garnering much interest on the open market. This is a bit surprising given Dumervil's proven track record as a pass-rusher. He's recorded at least six sacks in all but one of the 10 seasons where he played at least 13 games.
But if they opt not to bring Dumervil back, then they’ll just have to rely on further development from young pass rushers Buckner, Thomas, and Arik Armstead to continue improving in order to address that part of their defense.
Follow Us
Subscribe