Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that free agent linebacker Mychal Kendricks will sign a one-year deal with the Cleveland Browns. The reports were a bit strange, first there was word, then denial by Kendricks, then another report from Yahoo! reporter Jordan Schultz reporting it was a one-year $3.5 million deal. Whew!
A year ago, San Francisco 49ers were nearly done doing a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, Kendricks’ former team. For one reason or another, the deal never got done. When Kendricks was released from the Eagles in late May, it was a question of if he may come in to fill in for Reuben Foster if the latter had to stand trial for domestic violence. It wasn’t seemed as too likely, but Fooch posed the question.
With most of Foster’s legal issues behind him, a Kendricks signing didn’t make much sense at all, but the 49ers could always use some linebacker depth behind Malcolm Smith and Fred Warner, so it could have been a possibility. In any case, Kendricks is off to Cleveland and if the 49ers did have any interest, they are out of luck.