Report: Kicker Robbie Gould will enter free agency, won’t return to 49ers in 2023

This probably isn’t unexpected news for the 49ers. The team has admitted that they are evaluating kickers leading to next month’s draft.

“We’re not done with that,” general manager John Lynch told NBC Sports Bay Area this week at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Part of the whole Robbie situation is we got to do our work here, and you want to give Robbie as much time to pivot as possible. But we have to do our evaluations here.”

San Francisco had hoped Gould would remain an option, though.

“Robbie is still very much in the picture,” Lynch said. “He’s been tremendous for us, so we’ll see where we go on that.”

The New England Patriots signed Gould (6-0, 190) as an undrafted free agent out of Penn State in 2005. He made 27-of- field goal attempts ( percent) and -of- extra point attempts ( percent) through 17 game appearances with the 49ers last season, per Pro Football Reference.

Gould, 40, has made 447-of-517 field goal attempts (86.5 percent) in 266 game appearances through his 18 NFL seasons with the Chicago Bears, New York Giants, and 49ers. He was named a first-team All-Pro in 2006 and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2006.