49ers training camp: 4 players with most to lose entering 2021
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: 49ers Left Guard Laken Tomlinson
On the surface, it doesn’t appear to make sense thinking veteran left guard Laken Tomlinson has a lot riding on training camp this year. After all, Tomlinson has been one of the Niners’ more consistent and available players along the offensive line the last four years.
Yet there’s a clear scenario where Tomlinson could be in danger of being a surprise roster cut.
At 29 years old and entering the final year of his current contract, San Francisco could be envisioning long-term replacements already, hinted at by the 2021 NFL Draft selection of former Notre Dame guard Aaron Banks.
Banks, who played left guard in college, is projected to battle it out with the versatile Daniel Brunskill for the starting right guard job this season. But if both Banks and Brunskill perform well during training camp, it could potentially mean Tomlinson becomes something of a cap casualty.
The 49ers do need to free up cap space, and cutting Tomlinson wouldn’t be that hard to absorb, resulting in $1.59 in dead money but against $5 million in cap savings.
This would be more of a business decision than anything else, although it’s certainly plausible. With zero remaining in guaranteed money, the only way Tomlinson can prevent such a thing from happening is to absolutely crush it during camp.