After a lengthy tenure that spanned nine seasons, Ahmad Brooks‘ time with the San Francisco 49ers is over.
The team announced that they released the veteran linebacker on Friday. This comes as the Niners were unable to find a willing trade partner for Brooks over the last few weeks, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee first reported the news of Brooks’ release.
That’s true. They have been shopping him over the last couple weeks. https://t.co/mKskX8gljj
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 25, 2017
San Francisco 49ers Release Linebacker Ahmad Brooks
“We would like to thank Ahmad for his nine years of service and contributions to the 49ers,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said in a team release. “In that time, he played a significant role on some formidable defensive units that helped this team achieve great success. We feel good about the depth and competition along our defensive front and believe that by making this decision now it will give Ahmad a head start on exploring his options with other teams. We wish him and his family nothing but the best.”
The 49ers initially acquired Brooks off waivers in August of 2008 after the Cincinnati Bengals released him late in the preseason. He didn’t see any action with the team that year, with the team actually waiving him on November 29th before re-signing him a few days later.
The following year, Brooks found his place in the 49ers linebacking corps. His coming out party of sorts came in Week 14 against the Arizona Cardinals. In that game, he registered three sacks and two forced fumbles as San Fran cruised to a 24-9 win.
Over the remainder of his tenure with the team, Brooks was as consistent as it gets in terms of providing a formidable presence in opposing backfields. He played in at least 13 regular season games and tallied no less than five sacks during all eight of his seasons with the team. In total, his 51.5 sacks ranks third in 49ers franchise history behind only Charles Haley (66.5) and Bryant Young (89.5).
Parting ways with Brooks made sense for the 49ers from a salary cap standpoint. Though his cap hit in 2017 was $6.1 million, the team is incurring just $948,750 in dead cap by releasing him, per OverTheCap.com.
The 33-year-old is a two-time second-team All-Pro with his only Pro Bowl coming in 2013. A season removed from contributing 41 tackles, six sacks and four pass breakups, Brooks certainly has plenty to offer to a team in need of depth at linebacker.
