Moving on to one of the best bands to come out of the south, Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Nothing fancy is how I think the 49ers deal with the impending FA period. Which cracks open in 2.5 hours.
My take is the 49ers try to keep the proverbial band together without hitting free agency hard. Keep Whitner and Brown. Maybe Cox if he’s cheap. Dawson as well. Other than that? Who knows? There’s talk of getting VD’s brother, VD the CB, from the Colts. These others are peripheral guys who can be replaced in the plentiful draft.
So, seeing what happens these next couple weeks determines what they need in the draft. I certainly don’t think they go after a FA WR, but maybe a backup D lineman on the cheap? Sure. OTher than that, and maybe a CB/SS if they let Whitner go, I don’t see the Niners going into a free agent frenzy.
Forty Niners Forever 
I can’t wait to hear Spit’s take on the Gabbert acquisition. He said I’d go completely insane if the Niners signed the Puppy Killer as a backup. Blaine Gabbert in the red and gold is desperately pushing Spit to the outer limits.
Get off the wagon and tell your sponsor to go fuck him or herself. The Niners just traded for Blaine Gabbert. Have a drink.
Bet he’s gonna be better than McCoy
Jonathan Martin’s a Niner, for a conditional (4th?) pick . . Dennis oughta like that.
Does he like anything?
Peyton Manning and Tony Romo.
Right I fergot
Are Iupati’s days numbered? Probably no extension in the near future.
Yeah good point. Martin works out it’s going to put pressure on Iupati indirectly
Maybe directly: Quoting unnamed source (the wife beater)
“Martin’s clearest path to eventually earning a starting role with the 49ers could be at guard. Left guard Mike Iupati is signed through the 2014 season, and right guard Alex Boone is under contract for two more seasons.”
Wright over Brown and Cox? Not sure I’m down with that. Still got time for Brown. Hope they keep him.
Yes hear hear. No outside offers yet = dat’s gud
Have you seen the contract numbers CB are getting so far? Wow.
Yeah it’s a hot market. Maybe Niners are letting Brown see if he can cash in somewhere and if not that they will sign him w/ a fat bonus to compensate for his loss?
Our late round picks allowing us to pick up some flyers, backups. Maybe damaged goods but hey we’re turning into the NFL recycle dept and it could work out, maybe not but no great risk. “Bring us your injured, your damaged, your underachieving”. Rather be playing this game than investing in ‘big names’ = big expensive big names. Think value
Excited to see Martin join the Niners. He’s a solid OLman. Put him on a team without neanderthals and he’ll contribute. And don’t give me any bullshit about Incognito and his band of idiots being *normal NFL*.
Glad to hear it Flav. He’s excited and has to be motivated to give his all
+1 Right on Flav
Shefter says the conditional pick for Martin is a 7th round due in 2015 if Martin is on the opening day roster. Not much risk in that.
7th next year? Excellent.
7th? No risk at all.
Martin was a 2nd round 2012 pick and is an NFL starting quality tackle. If he still has his confidence that is quite a steal for next years 7th round pick.
Boobie Dixon visiting with the Titans.
I have mixed feelings about today’s moves. I hate the Johnathan Martin acquisition for a 7th round pick. I know it’s only a 7th if he makes the team, but let’s not forget the value of training camp snaps and the feeling that we have more depth, when really we don’t. Martin is a pussy, and he won’t make the roster. He’s not strong enough, period. Anyone see what Aldon Smith did to him in the 49er / Dolphin game? People will claim he’ll be better sliding inside to guard. No he won’t. He’s too weak in the upper body, and I seriously think his days in the NFL are numbered. His acquisition, however, doesn’t mean the 49ers won’t draft another guard in the later rounds. I hope they do. Martin stinks.
I love that Eric Wright re-signed. I think he’s a player, and the 49ers giving him another contract means he’s working some kind of program to keep his nose clean. If that kid keeps his nose clean, he could be a star.
4 years for Bethea? I want to see the details of his contract. I’m sure in a couple of years the 49ers can start to lower his salary, maybe even move him to a backup role, but I think there’s some serious drop-off from Whitner to Bethea. I hope the 49ers draft a safety high to compete with Bethea now. Bethea is smaller than Whitner. Whitner is much more compact. I think our secondary just got weaker. I think what Baalke did was go after a veteran to replace Whitner because it takes a lot to coach-up a rookie safety. But that doesn’t mean our secondary won’t skip a beat. Bethea is not as good as Whitner. The chance of the 49ers now drafting a safety in the first round is looking slimmer. I’d still prefer they did, however, to replace Dahl and have someone immediately ready to replace Bethea as soon as possible.
Bethea is a player, and he’ll get the job done, but in the NFC West you need hard hitting safeties to put the fear of God in receivers going over the middle. That’s not Bethea and Reid. I still hope Baalke selects a safety in the first round, but it’s looking less likely.
Regarding Blaine Gabbert, I love this move. I hate Gabbert, Del’s right. But I love the move. I written frequently that Jim Harbaugh needs another Alex Smith project to eventually trade for more draft picks. I thought that might be McCoy, but during the pre season it was obvious McCoy seriously lacked arm strength. Gabbert has more arm strength, so maybe Harbaugh can rejuvenate Gabbert’s career like he did Alex Smith’s. Now if Gabbert is ever our starter, I’m going to quit the 49ers for good, but that’s clearly not the plan here. The plan is (I think) to lower Gabbert’s salary from 2 million down to 1 million for 2014, then get him tuned up in our offense and maybe ask him to win a game or two. If he’s given the opportunity to start in the NFL if (god forbid) Kaep gets injured, and Gabbert plays well under Harbaugh’s system, we could fool some teams into thinking Gabbert’s been born again, and trade him for a pick higher than a 6th. But to get an Alex Smith type bounty, Gabbert would have to play a lot and get the admiration of some coaches around the league, and I’m not thrilled about that prospect.
On the whole today, I think the 49ers have weakened their team. I’d give Baalke a C for the day. Martin only hurts us in training camp and preseason snaps lost, Bethea is a downgrade to Whitner but because he’s the only real projected starter, this one hurts. Wright is a huge plus, and Gabbert is an upgrade over McCoy. I have more heart in my left pinky than Gabbert and Martin, but maybe Harbaugh can inspire Gabbert.
Gabbert is better than anyone they’d Draft in May.
Low cost move for practically nothing.
Well there you go = better than anyone in this years draft (at our spot). Yeah I like it esp. after we saw what Jimi did with another #1 pick who needed a little boost.
Baalke is tinkering with the roster for next to nothing.
No risk moves thus far.
Saved a little money too.
Bethea is solid. I’ve got no gripes since Whitner opted to move on.
We’ll be Drafting the SS of the future in May anyway.
Wrong. It’s not “next to nothing.” These are roster spots. Baalke has so far exchanged Whitner for Bethea, Goodwin for Martin, and McCoy for Gabbert. Baalke’s downgraded two out of the three positions, and the one position he’s upgraded is a backup who won’t have much impact. And it’s cost us a 6th and 25 million. Not a great day for the 49ers. But spin it however you’d like.
They washed away Goodwin’s money.
Saved some coin with the loss of Whitner.
Where’s the $25M?
Not spinning anything.
They saved money with Bethea over Whitner.
Martin for a 2015 7th?
That’s chewing gum money if he makes the roster or not.
Noodle arm McCoy is no great loss.
Plus they saved money losing Carlos and gaining Wright.
I know how much you love the ‘Suit’ but, this is what the suits do.
No guarantees Kaep will stick around long term either.
Gotta plan accordingly.
Gabbert isn’t Montana but, who is?
He’s still an upgrade over McCoy IMO.
It”s not Goodwin for Martin, they play different positions and Gabbert is worth more than McCoy. Not crazy about the Whitner loss so far but need to hear the contract details before commenting.
Yeh 12th, Goodwin is just a FA write off I’d assume.
Martin is simply an option for a roster spot.
Swing tackle?
Neither of these guys is going to be expected to do much.
Not a big deal for me on either count.
First Blaine Gabbert, now we’ve traded for Jonathan Martin. Why stop there? The Niners should go acquire Fredo Corleone and C-3PO and then we’d have the four biggest pussies in the history of modern civilization.
Waist of time…and a roster spot in pre season.
Not Martins finest hour but Aldon has made many a tackle look ridiculous.
Martin is a waste of time. Bethea is a downgrade.
Seattle has the Legion of Boom and we’ve got Gabbert and Martin. The Seahawks must be shaking in their boots. And I’m sure they are — from all the uncontrollable laughter generated from our latest trades.
Seattle also Drafts behind us Del.
They’re sorry Whitner is gone too I’m sure.
He got burned twice in the NFCC game.
They’re also shaking because Baalke has 12 Picks to shop with.
This is the chess match that goes on this time of year.
Nobody wins or loses until they play the games.
I’m sure Baalke isn’t looking to destroy the roster with these moves.
These are low risk options IMO.
If Martin doesn’t cut it, we lose a 7th RD Pick in 2015.
Who cares?
I think it is 11 picks now NJ after the Gabbert trade.
Let’s not forget that Caldwell, the GM in JAX, is a friend of Romans’.
Never hurts to open these sorts of exchanges with friends.
Might help with a move up the Board down the road too?
Same with Miami. We took Martins’ Contract and the media circus off their hands.
Ya never know…..
Correct 12th.
Thx
Either way, we have Picks for these types of moves.
Trying to ease Del’s angst.
I’m probably not doing a very good job either. 😀
Yeah, NJ…. I’m sure Seattle is sorry Whitner’s gone. Give me a break. Can you be more of a company man?
Del need angst like we need oxygen NJ. What would he get up after lunch for if not to fret?
Agree the moves today are peripheral and very low risk/reward. I like the Gabbert deal, Martin is for free and TC will see what he is made of facing our front 7 every day.
Signing Eric Wright is small potatoes and gives some depth and the opportunity to redeem his career.
Would have preferred they keep Whitner over Bethea but the Niners don’t control all the variables. If they really lost him because of 2 mil over 4 years I don’t agree with it but I have a feeling there is more to it than that.
I’m a 9er man Spit.
They saved money on a guy they weren’t hell-bent on saving.
Bethea is solid.
It’s a wash.
It is what it is.
You want to torch the moves, have at it.
It’s nothing devastating to me.
Just business in the NFL.
12th I’d read that the Whitner/Bethea exchange saved $5M.
Either way, as you suggest, Whitner made the decision to take the coin in Cleveland.
That’s the way it goes.
Little reason to panic after a couple of low risk, money saving moves.
They’ve got the Legion of Boom, we’ve got Bethea and Reid? Baalke better pickup his game…. pronto.
We’ll beat the Legion of Goons with a passing game.
Whitner got burned twice in Seattle. That’s why they’ll miss him.
Baalke is trying to improve the position.
He’ll also be Drafting the future SS in May.
Even when he does, it won’t be an instant fix.
Bethea is there now to provide insurance.
Oh, I see…. we’re gonna beat the Legion of Doom with our passing game. Hey everybody! Great news. We’re gonna beat the Legion of Doom with our passing game that’s being coordinated by a college run game coordinator in Greg Roman – a guy who hasn’t shown that ability yet to throw the ball consistently, but NJ claims that’s what’s going to happen because he’s not a company man or anything. That’s awesome news, NJ. I’m thrilled. And if we don’t score a ton of points we can all sit back and watch Bathea and Dahl get beatin’ like a drum for 4 quarter. But that won’t happen, right NJ?
Obsess much?
I said ‘WITH A’ passing game is how you beat the Legion of Goons.
We need one.
Seeing as we didn’t beat them with the passing game we have, we’ll need to get a better one.
In May Baalke gets to Draft WRs and DBs.
I’ve predicted a pair of each.
See what happens then.
Oh, I even feel better because, “with a passing game” changes everything!
Seattle beat our Secondary.
Seattle lost to Indy.
Maybe it was Andrew Luck?
Maybe it was the Indy Secondary?
Either way, Bethea is a 9er now.
We still need to address our passing game.
That’s on Harbaugh and Roman.
Trent Baalke is starting to suck. Look at his 2012 draft, AJ Jenkins, and now today. Baalke sucks.
He lost Whitner.
He filled it with a viable Vet option.
Equals smart move, to cover the loss while saving money.
He had a quick fix.
Tells me he’s prepared.
Martin?
Why not?
2015 7th RD Pick?
No brainer.
“Legion of Goons” is best moniker yet fer that pack of mugging rascals. Bethea Is better than Whitner in coverage and zero penalties last year. Blown coverages cost us big by DW in NFCCG no question about it. 2 X Pro Bowler, vet presence, more money saved for other players, younger. I can’t complain -yet. And we will be drafting couple DBs this spring.
No need to panic or depress. Let’s see how this plays out. It’s not about what us bloggers think.
Doesn’t tell me he’s prepared. Tells me he’s nervous and buying things on the first day of free agency – something the 49ers have been able to avoid in years prior. Baalke didn’t acquire all of this talent. McCoughan and Nolan brought in the majority, and it was Harbaugh’s name that attracted free agents. Baalke didn’t put it all together, but it sure as hell all could come unraveled on Baalke’s watch, and today, the unraveling has starter. Actually, it started with Baalke’s 2012 draft.
It’s a team effort Spit.
Baalke isn’t getting paid to screw it up.
Remember the Jonas Jennings / Nate Clements FA era?
We’re not desparate at this point.
No reason to overpay anymore.
We’re trying to juggle Cap moves and maintain the roster.
These are low budget moves.
Draft Picks are cheap too.
Sure, 2012 is a talking point but, the team remains a contender.
More Picks to spend in May.
I’m optimistic that this Draft Class has more viable options than AJJ.
Indy burned the Legion of Goons with T.Y/ Hilton.
A pint sized speedster of a WR.
There’s several of those types of guys coming along in May.
Hence a reason why I like the little RB Dri Archer of the 4.26 40 variety.
Brandin Cooks, Davante Adams, Odell Beckham, we’ll see?
Speed can beat size in this matchup with Seattle.
Boldin and Crabtree are possession guys.
Neither has any wheels.
Last year’s draft? Why do you have Dahl starting over Reid? Looks like you picked the wrong week to stop smoking crack. Look at the 2011 draft. You were touting the guy what, 2 months ago? .
2008 draft? Scotty’s. 2009. Scotty’s. 2010? You tell me. Scotty was hammered the whole time, and wrote his ticket out of here. .
I obviously don’t have Dahl starting over Reid. What I’m saying is we only have one good safety, and we’re desperately thin at the position. Baalke better use a first round pick on a safety, not a wide receiver. Bathea is a band aid.
McCloughan wasn’t great, but my point is that with years of poor coaching, the 49ers acquired a lot of talent. This wasn’t Baalke’s doing. Baalke is showing signs of being a bad GM. You don’t judge a draft class until 4 or 5 years down the road.
So far I give him credit for finding Hunter and Culliver. Kaep was all Harbaugh, and Aldon Smith was a 7th overall pick. You better hit on a 7th, and look at the first 15 in 2011.
1 Cam Newton QB Panthers 93
2 Von Miller OLB Broncos 97
3 Marcell Dareus DT Bills 97
4 A.J. Green WR Bengals 97
5 Patrick Peterson DB Cardinals 97
6 Julio Jones WR Falcons 95
7 Aldon Smith DE 49ers 93
8 Jake Locker QB Titans 90
9 Tyron Smith OT Cowboys 95
10 Blaine Gabbert QB Jaguars 96
11 J.J. Watt DE Texans 93
12 Christian Ponder QB Vikings 85
13 Nick Fairley DT Lions 94
14 Robert Quinn DE Rams 96
15 Mike Pouncey C Dolphins 92
With talent like this in the top 15, I could have drafted a stud at 7 with my eyes closed.
What, Sign Revis for $50 mill? Jarius Byrd for $60? Gawd, let’s take a little chiiax time. You and Dennis should get off the ledge and say, see what happens in the draft. Or wait til they actually take the field in 6 months? .
Lemme guess:.
What?!? We drafted (player x)? He’s a stiff! We suck! Baalke should be shot! We are the biggest joke in the NFL! Blah blah blah. Did we sign Peyton Romo yet? Repeat 10 times.
Pussies, Dennis? Big talk from a guy who broke his shoulder sitting, and broke his foot feeding ducks. If you even walked onto a football field you’d turn into a puddle of piss.
The Killer Ducks of the East Bay are whining in frustration that chow wagon has disappeared somewhere.
Either that or they are eating his rotting corpse.
It’s the cycle of off season dealing Chuck.
Dan Snyder was always the FA sweepstakes winner for a time.
Where’d that get him?
Look at my favorite buffoon Jerruh.
Robbing PRomo to pay whomever.
For all the tripe thrown at, and about Baalke, he’s done a pretty commendable job IMO.
Al Davis thought he conquered the world with JaWalrus, DHB and Run DMC too.
Always a crap-shoot in the Draft.
Still comes down to the guy wearing the pads on game days.
Some want to play….Some just want the pay.
AJJ was a pretty productive kid in College.
I think the NFL game overwhelmed him.
Win some, lose some.
At least there’s a Rookie Cap now.
Busts like JaWalrus won’t devastate a roster as badly now as then.
It’s the FA busts that will kill a team now.
Older guys, with heavy Cap numbers, are a helluva lot more risky then a 21 year Rookie.
An old GM once said if you hit on 30% of your pics you’re doing well. AJJ was a miss that’s for sure.
I personally think Baalke made an error last year not taking a CB higher in the draft and pssed and moaned about it at the time, now they need to take 2 DB. They cobbled together a back 4 all year due to injury and/or being outplayed by the guy behind. Fangio’s scheme is DB friendly and they largely got away with it until they didn’t, when it mattered most.
Whitner was a liability in 2012 and most wanted him gone, including me. He had a more suitable partner last year and together they played better, so which is the real Whitner? I would prefer him over Bethea at least until I see Bethea perform in Fangio’s system and with a pro bowl quality partner. My guess is that in the end they won’t miss him much, similar to Goldson, because of the system and the front 7 and I know they won’t miss the ugly penalties.
You may argue that the penalties were unfair, and I have, but it results in the same thing and Reid went penalty free as did Bethea last year.
Baalke drafted too many injured players last year IMO and provided very little for last years team and yes I understand the team was loaded but still. Now if those injured players can provide an impact this year!
I read Tank compared his skills to Warren Sapp, big talk but I hope he is right.
Baalke had a great draft in 2011 and not just getting Aldon Smith, who none of us had even heard of, so looking back at the top 15 and saying it was easy is BS, Baalke drafted Smith and we all scratched our heads but he was right of course. His 2012 draft was poor and that is accounting for how hard it is to get on a loaded roster. He did much better in 2013 picking Reid and getting contributions from some other players but if those injured guys don’t end up contributing it was only a mediocre draft. We shall see this year if his gamble payed off.
Looking forward to this years draft what do we expect? 2 WR, 2 DB, a RB, a QB and what else? Always a good idea to add to the lines, can never have enough pass rush, what about Martin? Does that trade mean they don’t need O line? Will they draft to replace Iupati who I suspect is gone next year?
How many of the 11 picks will Baalke use? I guess 8.
OK Chuck time for a new post since I wrote this opus.
“Let’s take a little chiiax time.” Exactly. You don’t go out and grab a fist full of nothing on day one of free agency. That’s not Baalke’s style, unless you’re desperate. We all know Baalke has preferred to wait and get free agent deals later. Why not this year? Why not “take a little chiiax time?” John Martin sucks. I’ll bet you he doesn’t make the 53 man roster to start the season. I’ll also bet you Bethea isn’t starting in two years. Gabbert’s really a non-factor (hopefully). More of an insurance plan. So then what? We’ve used a 6th and 25 million for Blaine Gabbert and a band aid? No my idea of a good day. But Baalke has time to redeem himself.
Exactly Spit.
Way too early to panic.
Martin is young, a former 1st RD Pick that played for Harbaugh at Stanford.
If he’s got any heart to compete, he’ll earn a job.
If not, he cost Baalke a 7th in 2015.
It’s not getting perfected between now and next Tuesday.
Little moves, sound planning, a little luck on Draft Weekend and, we’ll see which guys play on Sundays after Camp.
You’re not paying attention, NJ. It’s not too early, as you say, to panic. It’s too early to dive into the free agent market (which we just did), and it’s too early to tell if Baalke’s any good at drafting. But there are indications that Baalke could be stinker.
Guys need to take a chill pill on Jonathan Martin. It’s a conditional 2015 7th round pick — IF he makes the 53 man on opening day. That’s about as low as you go in trade terms, just north of giving up nothing. It’s a no risk move, Harbaugh obviously likes the guy, maybe Harbs can get him motivated to make the team and be a decent back up. Big deal…
Agreed. But put all the moves together and you have to consider this one.