© Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The 49ers made offseason efforts to revamp their offensive line around newly inked quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. One of those moves was acquiring Jonathan Cooper, who started 13 games at left guard with the Dallas Cowboys last season. Cooper’s deal cast a cloud over Laken Tomlinson’s future with the 49ers after he started 15 games at left tackle last season.
Tomlinson is entering his fourth career season after the Detroit Lions selected him No. 28 overall in the 2015 NFL Draft. The 49ers have until Thursday to exercise his fifth-year option for the 2019 season, worth $9.625 million in 2018, but it appears that won’t happen. The 49ers exercised defensive end Arik Armstead’s fifth-year option Tuesday.
“The numbers are different at each position,” John Lynch told KNBR Tuesday. “Offensive guard was a little skewed because they include all offensive linemen. Tackles get paid a lot, so that number was extremely high.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean Tomlinson’s 49ers tenure will conclude after the 2018 season, however.
“Those options are tricky deals,” Lynch said. “We had that opportunity with (Armstead) and Laken Tomlinson. I actually pulled Laken in here (Monday) and had a great talk with him about, in no way is this a reflection of what we think or don’t think of him. In fact, we are going to work towards making Laken a part of us for the long-term future around here… We are already talking to Laken’s guys about trying to make something happen, and we will see if that goes into next year.”
The 49ers are continuing efforts to promote depth and competition at offensive line. Earlier this offseason, they signed center Weston Richburg and shipped former starting center Daniel Kilgore to the Dolphins. They drafted Mike McGlinchey with the No. 9 overall pick in the draft last week.
Tomlinson will compete with Cooper and Joshua Garnett for the two starting guard spots.
“Each situation is unique,” Lynch said. “For Laken, we chose to go the route of starting to engage his agents to try to do something. Both of those guys (including Armstead) are guys that we want to be a part of us; just had different decisions to make on them. We think highly of both of them.”
Listen to Tolbert & Lund’s entire segment with Lynch below. For conversation regarding Tomlinson, skip to the 14:07 mark.