3 San Francisco 49ers who could be cut before Week 1

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Jan 19, 2020; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive end Dee Ford (55) reacts after making a defensive stop against the Green Bay Packers during the second half in the NFC Championship Game at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /

49ers cut candidate No. 1: Dee Ford, EDGE

EDGE. 49ers. 1. player. 42. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Dee Ford

A former first-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs back in 2014 out of Auburn, Dee Ford came into the league with some high expectations. It looked as though he was going to meet those as he had 10 sacks for the Chiefs in 2016 and 13 in 2018 — he was injured for much of 2017.

Following his first Pro Bowl campaign with Kansas City, he was traded to San Francisco ahead of the 2019 season. Once there, Ford agreed to a five-year contract worth $87.5 million.

Again, he had some injury issues, missing five games that year. Even so, he flashed his talent, recording 6.5 sacks while starting only two games and playing in 11.

Since then, things have gone south. Ford missed all but one game in 2020 and played in just six last season. In those seven games, he had a total of eight tackles and three sacks. In all, he has 22 tackles and 9.5 sacks in three seasons for San Francisco.

That’s nowhere close to what they expected when they sent Kansas City a second-round pick for his services.

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The Niners have been holding out hope he can bounce back, but it’s likely time to move on. They won’t save a lot of money ($1.1 million in savings with $5.8 million in dead money) but it’s better to save a little, especially if they’re getting next to nothing in return.