Cards’ Kendrick Bourne Out For Season

Signing Bourne to a two-year, $10MM deal that came with $6.5MM at signing, the Cardinals used him as a part-time starter. But the veteran will be out for the rest of the year after suffering a fractured tibia in Week 8, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets.

Mike LaFleur said Monday the injury could end the WR’s season, and the subsequent report certainly casts down about Bourne’s future in the desert. No surgery is expected, but Bourne will need around three months of recovery time.

No guarantees remain on Bourne’s deal past 2026, with those coming via this season’s base salary and through a signing bonus. Bourne, 31, had been tied to a one-year $1.77MM 49ers contract last season. This is Year 10 for Bourne, who sandwiched his 49ers stays with a Patriots run that brought two contract agreements.

The Pats’ 2021 free agency splurge included Bourne, who signed a three-year deal worth $15MM. Despite the receiver suffering an ACL tear midway through the 2023 season, a retention-heavy 2024 Pats offseason included a re-signing. The former UDFA agreed to a three-year, $19.5MM pact but only played one season on it, with the Mike Vrabel-led Patriots cutting him before the 2025 season.

With the 49ers without Brandon Aiyuk for the season and with Ricky Pearsall again battling multiple injuries — in a pass-catching corps frequently without George Kittle — Bourne became a key player for Brock Purdy and Mac Jones. Bourne caught 37 passes for 551 yards in 16 games last season. He was at 26/263 through eight Cardinals contests, though it will be worth wondering if that is a wrap on the experienced player’s Arizona game log.

The Cardinals will exit this season with a wide receiver need, having cashed out on Marvin Harrison Jr. for a Texans second-round pick. Michael Wilson signed a three-year, $75MM extension, and the Cards’ pass game runs through tight end Trey McBride. But more help will be needed moving forward. The Cards’ WR cadre is suddenly quite thin around Wilson, with Simi Fehoko, returner Devin Duvernay and fifth-rounder Reggie Virgil rounding out the group following this injury.