49ers Need to Move on from Ahmad Brooks and Finally End a Rocky Relationship

You have several choices while trying to pinpoint when San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks went from being a justifiable expense to a bloated, walking money pit.

You could go with when he said salty words (likely of the four-letter variety) to defensive line coach Jim Tomsula after being unhappy with decreased playing time. That resulted in Brooks keeping the bench nice and toasty during the second half of a Week 11 win over the New York Giants. He later apologized, and handshakes were exchanged.

Or you could fast forward a few weeks later to Brooks’ second benching after he missed a meeting prior to Week 14. When he was asked about being inactive Brooks later told Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee he’s “just a number”.

You could also note the report from Jay Glazer of Fox Sports that Brooks was nearly shipped out at the trade deadline.

All of those are worthy choices for when Brooks’ spiral started in 2014—or when it escalated. But the 49ers are in a new year of their football calendar now (and the actual calendar like the rest of us), and it’s clear Brooks should start his 2015 season anywhere but San Francisco.

He should be one of the first veterans released during an offseason of possible sweeping change that was anticipated well before a meaningless Week 17 game began.

Brooks maybe wouldn’t be part of that group if he didn’t violate a sacred, though unspoken, NFL rule: If you’re going to misbehave (or act even somewhat jerk-like) please ensure on-field production is of the highest standard.

The only common ground your workplace shares with the NFL is that malcontent personalities are tolerated if they’re uniquely skilled. Or at least they’re tolerated for a period of time and often far longer than expected.

Brooks isn’t on that level, and although he owned his behavioral misstep, it’s still not working in his favor when combined with other factors. Most notably his spiking paycheck.

Just prior to training camp, Brooks restructured his contract to free up a little over $2 million in salary-cap space; cash the 49ers then in part used to appease guard Alex Boone. But as with any restructuring, the solution is similar to all those times as a kid you cleaned your room by stuffing everything in the closet.

For Brooks, the proverbial can-kicking has led to a cap figure in 2015 that resembles a massive boulder: $9.6 million, according to OverTheCap.com.

His base salary is due to rise from a mere $855,000 this season to $6 million in 2015, and releasing him would come with $5.5 million in dead money.

Which is exactly what the 49ers should do, and it's what they will do as soon as this whole head coach thing is figured out.

Brooks’ ballooning cap number gets worse when we compare him to his peers.

Name	Cap hit
Clay Matthews	$12.7 million
Julius Peppers	$12 million
Tamba Hali	$11.9 million
Aldon Smith	$9.8 million
Ahmad Brooks	$9.6 million

He's among the top five highest-valued players at his position, even after a season when his production would be considered respectable at best if we’re being generous.

Brooks finished 2014 with 6.5 sacks, which was only slightly down from his 2013 total of eight. That’s why at first it seems like he didn’t tumble at all statistically, especially when you note that since becoming a starter in 2011 he’s averaged seven sacks per season. But as we’re reminded so often, sacks are a limited metric for judging the effectiveness of a pass-rusher.

Oh sure, bringing a quarterback down is great, and it results in a negative play while often killing a drive too. However, even the best pass-rushers in the game only reach that statistical peak during a small percentage of their snaps. The Chiefs’ Justin Houston, for example, finished this season with a sack on only 4.8 percent of his pass-rush snaps (he led the league with 22 sacks).

But when he wasn’t reaching home, despite his ability to toss offensive linemen at will, Houston was still anchoring his defense by disrupting the quarterback and the opposition’s passing game rhythm. He led all outside linebackers in both hurries with 54 and total pressures with 85, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

How did Brooks fare in those import categories that translate into dollars? In a word: poorly.

Year	Games played	Sacks	Hurries	Hits	Total pressures
2014	13	6	11	5	22
2013	16	8.5	26	9	43

That’s a staggering fall, and it’s easy to see why 49ers rookie Aaron Lynch was worked into the outside linebacker rotation more often. Brooks isn’t expected to enjoy the experience of watching instead of playing. He didn’t and had only himself to blame.

Now we’ve arrived at the simplest part of the dot connecting that leads to Brooks' imminent departure. Let’s review the evidence: He’s set to turn 31 in March (not old, though, also not young), his cap figure is rising dramatically and his production is falling at the same speed in the opposite direction.

The 49ers have little breathing room with Brooks and likely several other pricey veterans. They’re currently in the red and over the projected 2015 salary cap by an estimated $3.7 million, per OverTheCap.com.

Brooks could easily be rejuvenated in a new football outpost and under a different coaching staff. But the 49ers shouldn’t be concerned about that because Lynch's play has made him expendable regardless of the cost for his services.

Lynch finished 2014 with six sacks and 27 hurries even while playing only 521 total snaps, per PFF. That means he equaled Brooks’ sack total and recorded more hurries despite seeing 100 fewer snaps.

The combination of Lynch and Smith firing off the edge is a frightening thing. A shining and painful example of how Lynch’s speed can be used effectively came back in Week 11.

In the third quarter, now-departed defensive end Ray McDonald occupied two blockers on the left side of the Giants offensive line. The intention was to create a cavernous hole up the middle for Lynch.

He was successful, and in an instant, a glowing void appeared.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

That’s great, but Lynch still needed the agility to first plant and change direction, then accelerate again to reach top speed before quarterback Eli Manning had a chance to get rid of the ball downfield.

Which wasn’t a concern at all, with Manning downed seconds later.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Lynch has that extra explosive step and can excel with the attention Smith draws. His sack against the Giants is an example of that too, as on the other side, Smith was also pushing through the hole created up the middle, but he was met and blocked by the center.

The direction with Brooks should already be clear given his plateaued play, behavior and skyrocketing cap value. Lynch makes that decision even more obvious, as would fellow outside linebacker Dan Skuta if he’s re-signed at a minimal fee to provide quality depth.

An offseason of change will start in earnest soon for the 49ers, and we’ll find out who will be continuing under the guidance of new leadership. But first we need to know who, exactly, will be doing the leading.