The Las Vegas Raiders may be giving 49ers a chance to solidify the top of their depth chart in the right guard. Josina Anderson reported on Wednesday that the Raiders are expected to release RG Gabe Jackson after seven years at the club.
Performance did not drive the match. Jackson was scheduled to win $ 9.6 million next season and his contract left no dead money for Vegas to part with.
In fact, Jackson played very well for a strong offensive front for the Raiders last year and started all 16 games. In the previous two years, he started all 24 games he played. An elbow injury limited him to 13 games in 2018, and a knee injury in the preseason kept him in 11 games the following year.
Although the 49ers did not invest heavily in the RG slot during Kyle Shanahan’s tenure, it was enough of a problem last year that they could end up spending some of their limited resources to bring in a reliable player who could be the starter and allow players like Daniel Brunskill work as a reserve. This would improve the starting point and help with the depth, which suffered a lot last year with the increase in injuries.
It would be a departure from the norm for San Francisco, but kicking the tires on an initial RG available as Jackson can help ensure an offensive line that needs some reinforcements.