49ers roster: 6 players who could be gone after 2021
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: Running Back Raheem Mostert
It’s awfully hard to imagine the 49ers wanting to keep veteran running back Raheem Mostert around beyond this season.
True, Mostert’s emergence onto the national spotlight in 2019 was notable. Him going from an unknown special teams contributor to a modest star under Kyle Shanahan made for a great story, and Mostert remains the Niners’ top running back heading into 2021 despite dealing with a number of injuries last season.
Two key problems, though.
Heading into a contract year, San Francisco isn’t likely to commit to an injury-prone running back who’ll turn 30 years old next season.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, the 49ers invested two draft picks in running backs this offseason, Ohio State’s Trey Sermon in Round 3 and Louisiana-Lafayette’s Elijah Mitchell in Round 6.
Mitchell is going to be on the roster bubble, yet Sermon could potentially be a bell-cow running back, something Shanahan hasn’t had since taking over the job in 2017.
And the rookie’s presence could easily make Mostert expendable next year.