San Francisco is coming off its best season in years but sometimes success comes at a price. The latest example is running back Raheem Mostert, who is requesting a trade.
Here’s a quote on Twitter yesterday from his agent Brett Tessler (source ESPN).
“After months of unproductive talks with the 49ers about fairly adjusting Raheem Mostert’s contract (which paid him for special teams) we have requested a trade. Disappointing that it would come to this for a guy who led all NFL RBs in YPC & helped lead them to the Super Bowl.”
The 28-year-old Mostert came out of virtually nowhere last year to rush for 772 yards on 137 carries. That translates to 5.6 yards per carry which was first in the league among running backs (quarterback Lamar Jackson had 6.9 ypc). Mostert then added 336 rushing yards in the playoffs, including 220 in the NFC title game against Green Bay.
Mostert is scheduled to make less than $3 million in each of the next two years and is reportedly looking for a salary closer to the $5 Million per year range. That seems very reasonable given his production, although the team does have Tevin Coleman and there is a theory that coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense makes most running backs look good.
49ers are the favorite in the NFC
The 49ers are +430 to win the NFC at Winning Poker Network sportsbooks. That’s tops in the conference, although there are several teams on their heels like New Orleans (+525), Tampa Bay (+625), Dallas (+700) and Seattle (+770).
This Mostert news is not good even though San Fran still has decent running back depth even after trading Matt Breida in April. I believe the conference is wide open with many solid teams having a shot to win.
