49ers News: De'Vondre Campbell Reportedly Expected to Be Suspended, Not Released

The San Francisco 49ers are expected to suspend linebacker De'Vondre Campbell instead of releasing him outright, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Rapoport reported the Niners, by suspending Campbell, might be able to "claw back" a portion of his original $3.35 million signing bonus.

Fox Sports' Jay Glazer corroborated that reporting and added the Niners are "working with the league office to see what's the max they can do."

Campbell received widespread scorn inside and outside of the organization after refusing the enter the game in the third quarter of San Francisco's 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. According to Glazer, general manager John Lynch "confronted" Campbell in the fourth quarter and sent him to the locker room when it was clear he didn't intend to play.

Given how multiple 49ers teammates immediately went on the record to criticize Campbell, it was clear pretty quickly he doesn't have much of a future with the team. Head coach Kyle Shanahan then confirmed as much Friday, telling reporters the Niners were "working through the semantics of exactly how to deal with it."

"But I mean you guys heard from me last night, you guys heard from our players, his actions from the game, it's not something you can do to your team or your teammates and still get to be a part of our team," Shanahan said. "We're working through exactly the semantics of it right now, but we'll handle the situation appropriately."

Beyond the financial incentives for San Francisco, Rapoport noted there's probably a sense that cutting Campbell would only reward him for his actions.

Were the 2021 All-Pro to clear waivers, a contending team might be willing to give him another chance. An experienced linebacker who has 79 tackles through 13 games would be an attractive addition at such a late juncture of the season.

It's unclear how long the 49ers intend to suspend Campbell. They have three games left in the regular season.

A three-game ban would be on the high end considering the Baltimore Ravens sat wide receiver Diontae Johnson one game for the same infraction.

Even if Campbell is only out for San Francisco's Week 16 matchup with the Miami Dolphins, he will have paid a price. Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio noted he'd be out more than $234,000.