Former Tigers and current 49ers defensive end Dee Ford could be looking for a new NFL home soon.
San Francisco general manager John Lynch told reporters on Monday that he was having trouble seeing a future for Ford on the team at the NFL’s annual gathering of coaches and staff in Palm Beach, Florida.
“I don’t see a lot of hope with him being a factor for us on the field moving forward… I think we tried to be as patient as possible, and no fault of Dee, he just ran into a bad situation with his back where he couldn’t get healthy.”
Ford has been plagued by injuries since joining up with the 49ers. After a great stretch with the Kansas City Chiefs, Ford missed five regular-season games in his first year with San Francisco but still managed to play the entirety of its playoff run, losing to his former team in the Super Bowl. Since then, though, Ford has played just seven games in two years and was placed on Injured Reserve in November of 2021.
Ford was a five-year player at Auburn, where he racked up 93 total tackles, 27.5 of which went for losses, and 20.5 sacks during his tenure with the Tigers. He made the All-SEC team in 2013 and he was selected with the 23rd overall pick by Kansas City in the 2014 NFL Draft.