49ers roster: 3 kickers San Francisco should eye as Robbie Gould insurance

The 49ers recently got kicker Robbie Gould back from IR. But with his injury history, the team should look at these three kickers for emergency help.

The San Francisco 49ers might have a lot of issues in 2021, but one of the few problems which go relatively untalked about is the kicking woes.

Kicker Robbie Gould is potentially a future Hall of Fame nominee, but in the past couple of seasons with San Francisco, it’s been anything but gold.

It was wildly thought (and nothing more than that), Gould would head back to the Chicago Bears when he became a free agent in 2019, and it would’ve made sense since he has strong roots and connections to the city. But he and the Niners surprised many when they reached a multi-year deal to stay in the Bay Area.

However, he just hasn’t looked right. Could be the injuries. Could be anything. But the 49ers just can’t afford to have the kicking position be an issue. They have enough problems to deal with.

Shortly after the Niners put Gould on injured reserve with a groin injury at the begging of October, they signed Joey Slye, who in three games with the team, hit 50 percent of his extra points and 87.5 percent of his field goals. Not bad for the interim kicker who could probably sign a contract with another team this year if need be.

Gould came off IR for San Francisco’s Week 9 game against the Arizona Cardinals, yet the 49ers will still need to have some backups in mind in case another injury happens or the performance starts to suffer.

Here are three kickers the team should keep in mind, including one who was in the tryout session with Slye back in October.