It’s hard to believe that Elvis Dumervil has never won a Super Bowl. The 34-year-old linebacker was still on the Denver Broncos in 2012 when the Baltimore Ravens won, and he was on the Ravens in 2015 when the Broncos won. Now the 49ers have released him after one season, meaning that one of the greatest pass rushers of an era finds himself a free agent with plenty still left in the tank.

Even as a rotation player, Dumervil was as good a pass rusher for the 49ers in 2017 as any player was for the Patriots. Trey Flowers led New England with 6.5 sacks, which was exactly as many as Dumervil had.

There’s a strong chance that Bill Belichick will draft a linebacker with the No. 31 overall pick, and if that’s the case, signing Dumervil to a team-friendly deal could be one of their best pickups of the offseason. Not only can he still lead by example on the field, he is a generational-type player, and any young rookie would be lucky to be able to learn from him.

In 162 games played since he entered the league in 2006, Dumervil has 105.5 sacks. Only DeMarcus Ware and Jared Allen have had more in as many or fewer games since then. Long before Von Miller and J.J. Watt came around, Dumervil helped define the hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end position.

If there’s a team in the NFL that can maximize what he still has to offer, it’s New England.

There was a stretch of time from 2006-11 when the Patriots quite successfully utilized veteran linebackers and defensive ends not just as dynamic role players but also as leaders and mentors — players like Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi, Junior Seau and Andre Carter.

In the last two years, Belichick has seemingly returned to the aging-veteran well to find displaced front-seven defenders that need a home. In 2016, he took in long-suffering, 31-year-old Rams DE Chris Long. In 2017, he brought in beloved Jets LB David Harris and then took a chance on 39-year-old James Harrison after he was let go by the Steelers. In both seasons, the Patriots played in the Super Bowl.

With the struggles the Patriots have faced in their pass rush since parting ways with Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins, Dumervil looks like the right veteran at the right position at the right time.