The first days of Free Agency were typically entertaining, and as expected, the 49ers sat out the league wide scrum. Also as expected, Dashon Goldson went trolling for dollars and wound up on the opposite coast in Tampa Bay. Delanie Walker found a starting gig and more money than he’s worth in Tennessee. Not as expected, but certainly not surprising either, long time 49er Isaac Sopoaga took a pay raise and moved to Philadelphia.
Soap’s departure left only two guys on the team from the Terry Donahue era, punter Andy Lee and long snapper Brian Jennings. Perhaps fittingly for that less than admired former GM’s tenure, Jennings spends most of his football days staring back through his legs and up at his butt hole.
Two days into FA, it’s clear the 49er defense will be getting an overhaul this offseason. Whether it gets better or merely plugs some holes is yet to be determined. The team has plenty of draft picks to load up a new defense, but they’ll need time to mature. The best guess is the team brings in some old vets this year, like Charles Woodson and probably a couple of D-line heifers, to shore things up for a year or two.
The only move the 49ers have made was replacing Randy Moss with Anquan Boldin. By anybody’s yardstick outside of planet Moss, this is an improvement. Though perhaps not a ringing endorsement of last year’s number one pick, AJ Jenkins, unless the team is going away from the two tight end offense and making the three WR offense its base package.
At least football has a pulse again, so life, as we blogospherists know it, is alive and well.
It is reported that Josh Cribbs is leaning towards signing with the Cards which is curious because they already have one of the most feared punt returners in Peterson.
The Seahags have cut Leon Washington with the arrival of Harvin. Percy Harvin has yet to return a punt in the NFL and I wonder if that’ll be a new role for him.
It is imperative the Niners have a kicker that forces touchbacks on his kickoffs. Last year Tampa Bay led the league at 66.7%. The Niners ranked 13th at 48% down from the previous year’s 51%.
T o state the obvious, you cannot underestimate the importance of taking the ball out of the hands of dangerous return guys.
If they could find a kicker that drilled 75% of his kickoffs through the endzone I would devote a roster aspot just for that specialty.
Manny Lawson signs with the Bills
and Seahags lose DL Jason Jones to the Lions.
Also a significant feature of Harvin’s new contract is he’s getting a pay bump of $6mil extra for 2013 which hurts the Seahag cap.
Petey is feeding the greed and it’s going hurt them in the nest few years.
Flacco got his money but look at what’s left of the Ravens. Too many free agents and new contracts for 2013.
Dashon Goldson agrees to terms on a five-year deal with Tampa Bay.
Five years, $41.25 million, with $22 million guaranteed. He got his 8 mil – and some change.
49ers have reached agreement with former Chiefs DT Glenn Dorsey.
Mendenhall signs with Cards for 1 year. If he’s well that’s an upgrade over Beanie baby.
Welker is talking to Broncos.
How they can afford him because he didn’t like what the Pats offered so it’s about the money.
I never saw Dorsey do anything special with the Chiefs. I don’t even think he was the starting NT? This is a fairly blah move for me.
Welker inks a 2 year deal with the Broncos
The dollars have not been announced.
Report that Nnamdi has 4 teams after him with the Niners being one of them and Laron Landry is paying a visit tomorrow
Cards just cut their FS Kerry Rhodes.
They just released both of their starting safeties.
Rhodes is 31 so I am wondering if Niners have any interest.
Berger
This is the predraft scouting report on Dorsey. He fulfills what Soap did, runstopper and then sub. Depends how much they’re paying him and hope he’s cost effective.
Pre-Draft Scouting Report:
A top prospect who converts quickness to power. Can split a double team, range to make plays and when he came and countered on his pass rush was virtually impossible to single block. Loved his intensity level , quickness, strength and know how. Strong at the point and showed good movement down the line. Took good angles away and has the speed and quicks to factor outside the tackle box. Injured for much of the 2007 season. A real difference maker
Denver signed WElker for $121 mil for 2 years.
Tom Brady is going ballistic and publicly blasting his team for letting go at this price.
The drama continues…
bullit- I watched Dorsey in college at LSU. That scouting report is over rated. He had so much talent around him he was put in great situations to succeed. He did not have a very good national championship game, and then I heard he played on a bad leg, so it was hard to judge him for that game. So I try to watch him play for the Chiefs and I never see him on the field. I’d be surprised if he does anything outstanding for us. If I am wrong, that would be great!
bullit- Welker got 60.5 million per year for 2 years? I think that was a typo!
Oops fat fingers Welker got $12 mil and the Pats only offered $10 mil for 2 years trying to lowball him. Revenge time.
This is starting to get interesting. I don’t think old and slow will cut it for our new safety though Woodson has seen way better days.
Berger
Depends what they paid for Dorsey.
If he can basically do what Soap was doing and stuff runs I’ll be OK.
LSU keeps producing highly rated
defensive linemen with a ton getting picked in the first round.
Avril just signed with the Seahags
Amendola just signed with the Pats as Welker’s replacement.
Both of those guys went to texas Tech just like Crabtree.
If I recall correctly, Anthony Davis b!tchslapped Avril in the 2 meetings we’ve had in recent years.
Good signing for us.
Avril doesn’t scare me.
This was posted on Fox Sports today. It backs what I’ve been saying about Dorsey:
Dorsey heads to Niners — 3:37 p.m. ET
San Francisco addressed its defensive front Wednesday by agreeing to contract terms with Glenn Dorsey.
Although he started all but three games between 2008 and 2011, Dorsey never lived up to the expectations that came with being the No. 5 overall pick in the 2008 draft. Dorsey only played in four games last season because of injury and the Chiefs have already signed free agent Mike DeVito away from the New York Jets to replace him.
Sopoaga is better than Dorsey. It looks to me that we downgraded the position.
Avril jumps off side more that anybody I have noticed recently.
It is now reported that Louis Delmas is on his way to visit the Niners in the next few days.
Dorsey signed a 2 year deal that can earn him up to $7 mil total provided he meets incentives.
Not sure of guarantees but he came
at a cap friendly number.
Not saying he’s Soap’s replacement but he provides veteran depth.
I would not overlook Jerod-Eddie
who might surprise.
RJF is having a hard time finding
a home. Stay tuned he might be back.
Avril jumps offside more than Brooks?
Brooks likes to do it on 3rd down.
OK so …
i was lovin our offseason so far ! a 2nd and more for smith and adding anquan boldin meant we were a superbowl team and only got better !
A+ until now !
i was also excited about the chance that we would add dorsey to our starting D-line of smith ,mcdonald and sopoaga! to me dorsey would have been a nice pickup to add to that mix as the main backup at NT and DE !
after losing sopoaga however it’s really hard to get excited about our offseason ! dorsey is in no way an upgrade at NT imo !
imho we just regressed to the mike nolan days ! here we sit with a 3-4 defense and no star at NT to go with it !
I
do see where this is going ! we have a few good players looking to get paid ! sopoaga , RJF and goldson among them ! it’s becoming clear to me that our strategy is to sign veteran stopgaps like dorsey and woodson for the short term and draft for the future prospects at these positions ! the idea is that by the time the woodsons of this world have played out their year or two , the rooks will be ready to take over there !
the problem is imo that both woodson and dorsey are DOWNGRADES at their respective positions ! this imho puts way too much weight on hitting gold in the draft ! i know we have lots of picks , but it’s no sure thing our draft picks will pan out ! this strategy puts WAY too much on the hope that we’re spot on in the draft imo ! i know it’s because we , like all teams are having to deal with the salary cap , but omg !
GAWD i hope we use our many draft picks to move around and go after some positions of need this draft !
NT
DB (or two)
and RB
would do nicely imo!
bullit- I did not watch Avril much but when I did, he jumped off side at least twice per game. I remember thinking that he jumps off side more than Brooks.
rob- Since Boldin is said to be a really good blocker I would think he is a big improvement over Delanie Walker. I say that because Walker was often used as a WR.
how about
HOW about
DRAFT
DL jenkins
S elam
DL williams
RB joseph randle
FREE AGENT
keenan lewis
Dorsey is a relentless worker inside.
I liked him coming out of LSU.
He’s versatile and active.
I don’t think he was used properly in KC.
If nothing else, we got younger inside and saved some money.
Baalke is a value guy.
I have no problems with Dorsey.
Tomsula will make good use of him.
And, for the record, I still want a Channel Marker inside from this Draft.
Find me a Vince Wilfork.
I like the direction Baalke taking once again with the FA phase.
Getting replacements on the value side and spending wisely.
Bullit I’m with you regarding Jerod-Eddie too.
I think he’s our 5T in waiting and I’m looking forward to his contributions.
NJ i agree ! i LOVED dorsey coming out of LSU !
OMG i’m not sure , but from looking at it we might just sign a free agent safety to replace not only goldson , but whitner too !
All about finding good value Rob.
Landry reunited with Pagano in Indy.
Still more time before the Draft to see what else hits the FA Mkt.
If you find a better piece, you cut the lower hanging fruit from the vine.
It’s all about business and getting more for your Cap Dollar.
Greg Papa the voice of the Raiduhs was mocking DHB on his show today.
He was talking about what a huge mistake taking him 7th in the first round was because he can’t catch.
Papa said DHB tried to get better catching hundreds of passes from Jugs machines after practice but was always fighting the ball.
The Raiduh beat writers nicknamed DHB “Edward Scissorhands” and “Venus DeMilo”. That’s brutal
and don’t even think about him being on the Niners.
Why would we Bullit?
DHB was an Al Davis Pick.
Enough said.
Al was only interested in 40 times.
Everybody goes deep for Oakland.
Wouldn’t touch DHB.
Even if he was free, the Roster spot is too valuable to waste.
DHB is no worse in terms of hands than Ted Ginn Jr. – he just does not have the ST value.
Draft wise even though there’s a long ways to go this is who I’d take today.
1st rd Datone Jones DL UCLA
Eventual replacement for Justin Smith
2nd rd Johnathan Banks S Miss St
Play him as a Free Safety i/o CB
2nd rd Tyrann Mathieu CB LSU
Taking a chance but he will solve the slot corner cover issue to cover Harvin and Cruz and he is the solution as a punt returner
3rd rd Ryan Swope WR TAMU
Solves the slot receiver vacancy
They should check out Delmas’ health and if signed I’d take Zach Ertz TE Stanford with 34th pick
If they sign Asomugha I’d still take Mathieu after grilling him on his personal life and how he’s changed. Mathieu has indicated of all team the Niners would be a good place to play.
RJF signs with Indy.
Ted Ginn is visiting the Bungles.
Manny Lawson signed with the Bills and is reunited with his bookend team mate from college Mario Williams.
Keenan Lewis signs with the Aints
so that makes it unlikely Nnamdhi is headed there and give the Niners contract leverage.
Bungles LB Dan Skuta is also vising the Niners. He’s a backup special teams type.
LAWSON would have looked good back in red and gold imo !
WOW
RJF got 4 years 22 mil from the dolts ! no wonder we signed dorsey ! he should be our main backup at DE and NT !
now our biggest need is a big time NT to replace sop !
I SAID we should go after a free agent corner ! how about asomugha !
CRAP keenan lewis was my guy !
BUT
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000150450/article/report-nnamdi-asomugha-49ers-have-mutual-interest
Steven Jackson to Atlanta. Bet Willis & Bowman won’t miss having to bring that horse down.
Manningham is staying and has agreed to a restructured contract cutting his salary in half to $1.8 mil.
The trade off might be it’s guaranteed but that’s still unclear per Maiocco.
What is MM’s health status? Is he going to be ready for TC?
Crabs and Boldin with MM in the slot sounds pretty good – if he can answer the bell. Throw one rookie into the second group of three with KW and AJ and let them compete for being active on game day.
i like manningham ! his deal saves us almost 2 mil in cap space ! he says he expects to be ready to go at the start of the season !
Okay, according to the article, MM will NOT be ready for camp, but thinks he’ll be ready for the opening week of the season. So, he’ll realistically be available early in the year, though maybe NOT week one, and at an unknown level of ability.
So far this week, 49er free agents have signed 92 million dollars, roughly, of contracts with other teams. We have only signed Dorsey. I expect we will have several compensatory draft picks again next year, unless we go on a signing binge late. We could easily have a dozen picks next year, after our 14 this year.
GRUMP whatever the timeframe , you’re right ! our WR corps will be the best it’s been in well over a decade ! more like 15 years ! in fact our whole offense went from mediocre to high powered with two moves (KAP and BOLDIN)!
now we have boldin, crabs and mario at WR, gore and hunter at RB, kap at QB, vernon at TE and a pro bowl calibre 0-line !
WOW !
Hate to say it, but the Seahawks are really loading up for the coming year. And they were already pretty damn formidable.
Something stinks here.
How does RJF sign for 4 years $22 mil and both Avril and Bennet sign for only $5 mil per year?
It doesn’t make sense or add up.
Is there some shenaningams happening up North?
bullit- RJF is a pretty good D-lineman. Many dumped on him because he was a big drop off from Justin Smith, but everybody is a big drop off from Justin Smith. I knew RJF would get this kind of pay day. That fact that we did not use him more in a rotation was a bad coaching move, IMO. It probably cost us a good pass rush late in the season, and possibly the title.
Berger, hopefully we get a fire lit under Dorsey’s ass and use him. Be nice to avoid burning Justin out by December next time around.
For anyone missing FlyingV68, fret not. He is holding court on Chuck’s Den of Iniquity, in all his glorious fracking insanity. We’re gonna party like it’s 2008.
Missing FlyingV is equal to saying you miss having a root canal without any novocaine. Pass.
Grumpy- I just checked it out. It’s the old days of all the independents. V is the independent who calls out the liberals like Michael Savage, and then there is unca has his band of independents that has never seen a liberal movement they did not grab hold of, including smearing every conservative idea known to mankind. So they are all independents that polarize every talk space humanity has ever offered. I’ll pass too. I’ll park my Libertarian ass here and try to stay away from talking politics on a sports blog. Except when I drink and talk politics with unca!
here i go !!!
ok , so …
nothing like a programmed Liberal who thinks only the way they tell him to think. Bringing up Bill O’Reilly while taking one side of the most Corrupted Government in the history of the USA. Nothing like being blind when two CRIMINAL sides pit two worlds against each other and a Clown stands by one because “He doesn’t have a brain”
😉
classic !
“Blind legions of escaped goats at twelve o’clock!!!”
Gather them up with duck tape!
It’s official: ST standout Dan Skuta was just signed. @Dskuta51
Hope he’s the next Costanza. I mean Costanzo. I ever if Stuka ever wanted to pretend to be an architect?
Niners need to at least sign a veteran placeholder safety for 2 years to groom a draft pick as Whitner is in the last year of his contract.
Delmas was in for a visit and didn’t sign and the concern is he just can’t stay on the field with bad knees.
An alternative for a reasonable price might be FS Kerry Rhodes who the Cards just cut.
“Rhodes had a phenomenal season in 2012, as he was stout versus the run and in coverage. However, he turns 31 years old in August, and the veteran purge around the league continues. It’s a buyer’s market for defensive backs.”
New post is up.
Berger
Baalke couldn’t pay that kind of money to RJF because it would throw the Niner salary structure
out of whack. McDonald has a 5 year contract for $20 mil and will make #3.2 mil in 2013.
RJF is getting paid more in 2013 than Brooks at $3.4 mil.
Bottom line here is there was an opportunity for RJF to re-sign to replace Soap as the starting NT.
Niners felt differently and Colts
in my opinion overpaid because Manusky is the DC at Indy.
I just like the helpful info you supply in your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and take a look at once more right here regularly. I am quite certain I’ll learn lots of new stuff proper here! Good luck for the next!
We are a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your site provided us with valuable information to work on. You’ve done an impressive job and our whole group will probably be grateful to you.