Report: 49ers likely would rather suspend Campbell than release him originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The 49ers can also play the small game.

San Francisco is expected to suspend De’Vondre Campbell for refusing to play on “Thursday Night Football” against the Los Angeles Rams, rather than releasing him to cash in some of his bonus money and prevent him from playing on one Another team, NFL Media, to sign Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday morning.

“Make no mistake: De’Vondre Campbell’s tenure with the 49ers is long over,” Rapoport said on “NFL Game Day.” “Kyle Shanahan made that clear after the game and the day after. My understanding of how this is happening, and it hasn’t officially happened yet, is that the 49ers are more likely to suspend Campbell than simply release him. That’s the expectation.”

“There are several reasons for this: First, it prevents him from clearing waivers, claiming and signing with another team (and) playing the rest of the season. Plus, it will potentially allow them to reclaim some of his $3.35 million signing bonus.”

Chess, not checkers.

Campbell left the 49ers from the sideline in the third quarter of San Francisco’s 12-6 loss at Levi’s Stadium on Thursday night, leaving his team behind in a game they desperately needed to win.

When asked about it after the game, Shanahan simply said that Campbell “didn’t want to play today.”

But when Shanahan spoke to the media via conference call the next morning, he made it clear that the 49ers would move forward without Campbell.

“We’re working out the semantics to deal with exactly that,” Shanahan said. “But you heard from me last night. You’ve heard from our players. His actions during the game are something you can’t do to your team or your teammates and still be part of our team.”

Campbell, 31, is a nine-year veteran who has started 122 regular-season games in his career. He was a first-team All-Pro for the Green Bay Packers in 2021.

However, it could easily have been his last NFL game.

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