The San Francisco 49ers have come to terms with Malcolm Smith to restructure his contract, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
Updating this 👆🏼 from yesterday, a source says LB Malcolm Smith has restructured his contract. The Super Bowl XLVIII MVP will remain with the #49ers.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 8, 2019
In 2017, the 49ers signed former Super Bowl MVP and veteran linebacker to a five-year $26.5 million contract. His first year with the team started and ended in the offseason, after landing on injured reserve with a pectoral injury.
Last year, he missed four games and had only 35 tackles on the season.
Although he has struggled with injuries during the first two years with the 49ers, it seems that they want to keep him around for now. He was scheduled to make around $4 million with a cap hit of $5.4 million, according to OvertheCap.com.
It is surprising that the 49ers are keeping an injury-prone linebacker on their roster. Maybe their hope is that he can return to his form when he had 225 tackles, four sacks, and two interceptions with the Oakland Raiders in two seasons combined.
But even then, he hasn't been the most reliable player in pass coverage and the tackle total covers a lot of the struggles he's had overall.
Smith will turn 30 in July. He has 390 tackles, six sacks, four interceptions, 17 passes defended, and eight forced fumbles in his nine-year career.
The details of his restructured contract have yet to be released but it will likely be a big one as Smith likely won't have much of a market in free agency. The reworking of his contract will keep Smith as a 49er for now but if his struggles to stay healthy persists, don't be surprised if they decide to move on from the veteran linebacker down the road.
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