ALAMEDA, Calif. — NaVorro Bowman will make a short move after his release from the San Francisco 49ers, agreeing to a one-year, $3 million contract with the Oakland Raiders on Monday.
A person familiar with the deal said Bowman agreed to the move across the Bay Area after visiting with the Raiders on Monday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the signing had not been announced.
Bowman was released on his request last Friday after seven-plus seasons with the 49ers. San Francisco had tried to trade him but ended up releasing him instead so Bowman could pick his next team.
He is joining a team that needs some help after four straight losses have turned the Raiders (2-4) from a potential Super Bowl contender into a last-place team.
Bowman brings a veteran presence to Oakland’s young linebacker group that started rookie Marquel Lee and second-year player Corey James for most of the year. Undrafted rookies Nicholas Morrow and Xavier Woodson-Luster got most of the snaps in Sunday’s 17-16 loss to the Chargers with Lee out with an ankle injury and James limited to seven snaps by a sore knee.
Bowman was once one of the top inside linebackers in the league, earning first team All-Pro honours four times, achieving it from 2011-13 and then again in 2015 after coming back from a devastating knee injury. Bowman then tore his Achilles tendon early last season and missed most of the year before coming back again this year.
While he lacks some of the speed he had when he was younger, Bowman still could probably help a team at age 29 and would like to get to a contender.
Bowman started the first five games of the season with the 49ers, recording 38 tackles and one pass defenced. He had been upset about being taken out for stretches of games after being an every-down player most of his career.
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