Barber: Reuben Foster hangs over 49ers like a cloud
SANTA CLARA
It’s the season of hope in the NFL, and nowhere does optimism shine more brightly right now than here at 49ers headquarters. A six-game winning streak to close out the 2017 season and a long-term contract inked by game-changing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo have created the impression that this organization is on the verge of something exciting. Maybe even something great.
But a cloud hangs over the 49ers’ offseason. It’s a cloud in the shape of Reuben Foster.
Foster, a ray of sunshine as a rookie linebacker last year, now hovers over and lurks behind everything this team is trying to accomplish. His amorphous presence/absence blurs the 49ers’ needs in the upcoming draft, weighs down their offseason training program and muddies their 2018 salary cap projections. And if Monday is any indication, Foster will dominate the team’s public appearances for a while.
Monday was the day that general manager John Lynch engaged the media to talk about the draft. He did it in the same room as last year, equipped with the same microphones and video screens. But Lynch had an inkling that the conversation might be very different this time, because he hadn’t spoken to reporters since we had all learned the disturbing details of Foster’s arrest on domestic violence charges.
After walking reporters through the 49ers’ yearly scouting cycle and the makeup of the team’s personnel department, Lynch acknowledged the elephant in the room. He noted the gravity of Foster’s case and argued that “patience is the right approach right now.”
“But I do want to be abundantly clear that if the charges are proven true, if Reuben did indeed hit this young lady, he won’t be part of the organization going forward,” Lynch added.
He wrapped up his preamble with this statement: “I’m advised that I’m not at liberty to go into depth on these. We can talk about the draft today. We have a limited amount of time in here.”
Lynch’s message needed no translation. He had broached the difficult subject of Reuben Foster. There wasn’t much more he could say about it. So he’d really, really appreciate it if we limit the discussion to whether the 49ers might trade out of the No. 9 spot, or the depth of the cornerback position in this draft.
Wasn’t gonna happen. Lynch spent the next 15-plus minutes answering question after question about Reuben Foster - about his history of minor transgressions before this recent, major accusation; about how long the team will continue to wait for a resolution; about the string of legal charges racked up by 49ers players in recent years and the level of proof the team might require to sever ties with Foster.
All in all, Lynch spent more time on Reuben Foster than he did on the entirety of the 49ers’ draft needs and projections. Get used to it, because this issue might not be going away for a while.
A lot of people argued that the 49ers should cut Foster when the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office made its charges public on April 12. That’s when we learned the Foster is being accused of dragging his girlfriend by the hair, punching her in the head up to 10 times and rupturing her eardrum.
Disgusting allegations, but I was OK with the Niners keeping Foster on the roster. Considering the preferential treatment most professional athletes get from law enforcement, and the fact that domestic abuse is widely underreported, there’s a strong likelihood that Foster is guilty as charged. He may well be going to jail. But no one, ever, should lose his or her job because of accusations. There has to be some measure of due process, and we’re not close to that in the case of Reuben Foster.
So I think the 49ers were justified in retaining Foster while barring him from offseason team activities, and I understand why they are willing to wait for his case to play out in the legal system. But as Monday demonstrated so clearly, they can’t let the process unspool forever, because that storm cloud threatens to obscure all of the exciting things happening here.
Starting with the draft.
Lynch acknowledged that the 49ers must proceed under the assumption that Foster will not be with them in 2018. That leaves the team with Brock Coyle and young Donavin Newsom at middle linebacker, or maybe Malcolm Smith (who is returning from a major injury) if they were to slide him over from the Will linebacker position.
The 49ers clearly think there’s a chance Foster is innocent - or at least won’t be convicted - or they wouldn’t be standing behind him. Yet they must strongly consider someone like Virginia Tech inside ’backer Tremaine Edmunds, a size-speed freak and sideline-to-sideline run chaser, with that No. 9 overall pick.
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