SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers gave their first indication that the future is more important than the present when they released their starting outside linebacker, Ahmad Brooks, on Friday.The move leaves third-year linebacker Eli Harold, who made no tackles in a start last week against Denver, as No. 1 on the depth chart at the outside position opposite of rookie Reuben Foster.”It’s a really tough decision,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “(General manager) John (Lynch) and I had gone back and forth with it the last few days. Once we really came to the conclusion he wasn’t going to be part of our final 53, we weren’t going to keep him around just to let him know nine days from now.”We know there’s a lot of teams that will be interested in him. So we gave him that opportunity to go out and find them.”As a vested veteran, Brooks did not have to go through waivers, so he immediately became a free agent at 4 p.m ET.Brooks, 33, played in all 16 games for the 49ers last season, starting 15. He was eighth on the team in tackles with 41, and tied DeForest Buckner for the team lead in sacks with six.The 10-year veteran has 53.5 career sacks. He played his first two seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals before joining the 49ers.Shanahan made one thing clear: Brooks wasn’t cut because he can’t play anymore.”Ahmad can still do things; I think everybody knows that,” the first-year head coach said. “He’s going to help somebody this year.”-Jimmie Ward will not face the Minnesota Vikings in Sunday’s preseason game, but he took a major step toward making himself available for the regular-season opener when he passed his physical Wednesday and was removed from physically unable to perform list.Ward, who suffered a hamstring injury during a conditioning test on the eve of the opening of training camp, was able to return to practice this week on a limited basis.The former first-round pick is considered a key piece in the team’s new defensive look, one that requires a trustworthy free safety in the single-deep alignment.New defensive coordinator Robert Saleh cautioned that Ward has a lot of work to do before the opener against Carolina.”Playing middle-third safety is a very instinctual position,” Saleh explained. “You’ve got to be able to see it. To me, the hardest part is being able to track and tackle.”Coming out of the middle hole, when the defense gets creased and it’s him and the back one-on-one, that’s the hardest tackle in football. Those-Rookie C.J. Beathard will be the 49ers’ second quarterback in the Minnesota game, but Shanahan warned not to read too much into that.The third-round pick is battling veteran Matt Barkley for the backup position behind Brian Hoyer.”I’ve seen Barkley play in the NFL before,” Shanahan explained. “I’d like to see C.J. do a little bit more.”Barkley served as Hoyer’s backup in the preseason opener against Kansas City. Beathard got his first crack at the role last week against Denver.QUOTE TO NOTE: “We’ll play it out as the game goes. My goal is to at least keep them in the first half. That’s what I hope for. Then I’ll get a feel at halftime what we want to do in the third quarter.” — 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, on his approach to his starters’ playing time in Sunday’s preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings.
