Here we are in the middle of the only story of the NFL offseason that has any staying power. Colin Kaepernick’s whereabouts come September. Funny to think there are people out there who think Trent Baalke will dump Kaepernick. Even though he’s under contract and (presumably) will be on the team after his salary kicks in on April 1st. Regardless of what anyone thinks of him, his salary and contract are team-friendly, no matter what team he is on.
And, believe it or not, the 49ers do have some leverage regarding their wayward QB. And the leverage lies with Denver. This makes the most sense for everyone involved. Cleveland wants to heavily restructure his contract to pay him nearly backup money. While Kappy would likely be fine with that kind of deal in Denver, Cleveland is another mater entirely,as they are shedding talent, their coaching staff is a revolving door of revolting, and are basically a different flavor of shit than we are right now. And therein lies the rub. Trent Baalke KNOWS that Denver, and Elway, do NOT want to start the season with Mark Sanchez as their starting QB. This is where we have our leverage.
Trent has made all the statements that we are going to stick with Kappy should the trade not come to pass. Even Kappy has said he’d come to camp should it fall out this way (his best interest as well). Trent is also holding out for a 2nd round pick. Cleve’s 3rd round basically IS Denver’s 2nd round, so Trent understands that Denver’s 3rd is way down the line. To make things interesting, Denver floated out there that Kappy is only worth a 4th round pick. Funnily enough Denver doesn’t HAVE a 4th round pick to trade. So, they are playing their own brand of gamesmanship.
We’ll see how this plays out, but for all of Baalke’s shitty drafts, he has ben very shrewd at GETTING draft picks. We went through a similar scenario with Young Sir Alex when many though he would be simply cast aside. I rightly said that there was enough interest to get a some picks. I didn’t think he’d get a 2 and a 3 for him (I think I said a 3 and 4). As it worked out, Baalke got the following for Alex:
Tank Carradine, DE (second round, 2013)
Corey Lemonier, LB (third round, 2013)
Carlos Hyde, RB (second round, 2014)
Chris Borland, LB (third round, 2014)
Stevie Johnson, WR (trade for 2015 fourth-round pick)
Not a bad haul for a guy that many thought would be tossed away. I don’t think we get the same 2 picks, but I can see something like Denver’s 3rd round pick, and a mid-level pick next year.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
The age old business clichè Chuck, supply and demand.
Kaep has a Contract in hand with lots of zeroes attached.
If he’s willing to work for his starting job ,he’ll get paid.
Cleveland simply low-balled him to see just how desperate he is to leave.
Sounds like Kaep’s Reps are seeking their ‘cake and eat it too’ scenario.
Good luck with that.
I’m holding out hope that the NYJ and Mo play into this drama in the end.
NYJ have no money, no QB and, a BIG decision to make.
If Cleveland lands RG III, the game of musical chairs will pressure Kaep’s Camp to make a big decision as well.
Baalke won’t just accept a deal for the sake of a deal.
It’s a leverage thing.
As I’ve eluded to many times –
http://www.csnbayarea.com/49ers/baalke-were-draft-and-develop-team
What does that even mean, NJ? What is the alternative? Draft and throw away? Everybody drafts and develops. Some guys draft players that are game-ready. Some people draft players that develop. Not guys like Lattimore who come in hurt and take 3 years to get nowhere. Or guys not built for our system like LMJ, or complete wastes of picks like AJJ. His track record speaks for itself. This team had a ton of talent when he took over. It is nowhere near that now. Blame the coaches or the system, or whatever, but players play. They don’t leave here and get better, minus Ted Ginn.
We had glaring needs last year that Baalke flat ignored. We needed O line help, he drafted a D lineman. We needed corner help, he drafted a safety, ILB help? He drafts an OLB. WR? No. Another TE. A flat dogshit punter no one would have drafted? in the 5th round? I seriously could have done a better job than Baalke. At least with the first 5 picks.
We are pretty much in the same position as we were last year. Still need O line help. Still need ILB help. Still need CB help. Sean Smith could have been had without too much trouble. Tartt is the only good out of last years draft. Zane is a low-grade guy who’s best days are behind him.
But hey, he’s our GM. We have one more draft to see if he can get his shit together and draft for need instead of drafting to develop.
Sorta makes me wonder about that comment that Jed spewed about having ‘Teachers’ Chuck.
Whether that was aimed at Harbaugh or, specific position Coaches on his Staff, I sure don’t know.
One thing is obvious, Chip has a hundred guys on his Staff now.
I do know Baalke is looking down the road with this philosophy but, there is a clear need to get everyone speaking the same language from the top on down.
We have to Draft pieces that fit a scheme.
LMJ was likely a guy that Harbaugh banged the table for, simply because of comments I’d read about how he hated to plan for him while at Stanford.
I think it’s safe to assume Harbaugh and Baalke couldn’t agree on the pieces they were shopping for.
Hard to keep the Faith these days as 9er fans but, I’m trying to find an upside.
I’m hoping for the best of course but, again, there just seems to be too much dysfunction involved.
As for Sean Smith, it’s highly likely he, (and most FAs) just see too much dysfunction in SF.
Frustration, thy name is Jed.
If I see him in Canton this Summer I’m gonna cold-cock his A$$
He’s tearing this Franchise to shreds in terms of micro-managing everything.
We’ll see, if he and Paraag, can let Chip and Trent work this mess out and, stay clear.
Just like the old lady said years ago “where’s the beef” and just like then there is very little. If nothing else the draft should help put butts in the seats but ours don’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kappy is our QB again this year and we will probably be a 4 or 5 win team because we don’t really have many good players.
NJ49ER
If you see jed make sure you don’t cold cock him too hard. IMO he’s the only hope we have in this ownership. Last few years we pay the players and lowball the coaches. Dr. John anyone? Now we finally pay the coaches and pay off Tommy and with 62 mil in cap space we get a 3rd QB. Dr John anyone ?
Imo jed really does care. The stories of his loving the team growing up and being tight with his uncle are true.
The funny part is hearing those who idolize Eddie as I do turn on jed and say he’s just a nobody who inherited his money . What a worthless loser. Well guess what. Where did Eddie get his money.
Ever heard of Ed Debartolo sr. ?
!!!!
LOL
Right, ROB! I saw some footage recently of fan reactions after the last game of the 1980 season, and the whole thing was, Eddie’s an entitled rich kid who has no business running the team in the grand tradition of the Morabitos, Bill Walsh is an egg-head who doesn’t understand the nuances of the game, the team has no players, on and on. 10 minutes of nothing but vitriol from the fan base as they were filing out of the Stick. Some of us saw the improvement before it happened as the offense was starting to click. The defense, especially the defensive backfield, was still a revolving door, but the 1981 draft cured those ills.
Jed obviously cares, but this all leads back to the front office and how things get done. Eddie himself said 5 years ago that there were too many people involved in the decision-making process. There were no lines of communication among the chiefs in the building, and therefore a lot of thrash around everything.
This hasn’t changed. At some point, Jed needs to get rid of the MBAs and bean counters, or at least minimize their input, and get the team going in a direction that makes sense. Get the football people to worry about the team, and let the Paraags of the world remain behind the scenes.
Do we even have a VP anymore?
Whatever happens win or lose Skeebers has Bullit. If things go south at least this blog has music.
Right chuck. The fine tuning of paraag’s role should help there imo
Tom Gamble, Winder?
I think Gamble’s title is director of player personal. I guess that as close to a VP as it gets
Good to see the slowpokes of the world finally understanding Baalke’s role in the current state of the 49ers. If Harbaugh had stayed, Baalke would either be dead or out as our GM. Harbaugh would have likely strangled him or staked his life on getting him out the door. Who’s to know if their infighting contributed to these shitty drafts, but last year’s was untainted by Harbaugh. Still shitty. And, even with Harbaugh here, the results would be a hell of a lot different.
Hmmmm. No infusion of talent = what? Greatness? My final straw with Baalke was his abject refusal to address our needs last year.
Must be Kappy’s fault.
I just love this guy
Mule Variations is a great album.
Just heard Blue Valentine the other day. great stuff. no one sounds like him.
Rob, It’s been my contention all along that Paraag is Dr Daddy’s inside guy.
He, IMO, is/was acting as a quasi-GM.
For an MBA Contract negotiator, he was given quite a broad berth, in terms of his influence on the day-to-day operations, beyond Chief Negotiator.
Reports were written of his (Paraag) disdain for both Harbaugh and Kaep.
For what reasons, I’ve got no clue.
Let’s just assume that any rifts involving the HC and his QB, could not have been anything but divisive.
IMO, Jed is too close to the dealings as well,
There isn’t an Owner in this League, (that I’m aware of), that provides anything positive, by interfering in the GM/HC dynamic.
Football guys should run the football operations.
FO guys should provide the resources in terms of capital, and stand back.
Eddie did things as an extension of his Family.
Players wanted to be there because of the atmosphere he fostered.
Jed just doesn’t seem to have that sort of charisma to pull it off.
NJ
Paraag to me has done a good job with the cap but obviously has to have his job limited to just that. I remember when it was suggested his role increase and gave that a good WTF.
One thing I can see tho is Jed actually trying at some point to become a go between of sorts in the Harbaugh vs Baalke thing.
I still really think the genesis of the problem might have been Harbaugh pushing for a new contract and Dr John penny pinching.
In the end this is all on Jed. Like seeing Baalke coaching the DBs last year. Paraag deciding when to throw the red flag under Nolan. And countless other situations.
Too many examples of people overstepping, or having too much influence, in spheres where they shouldn’t. As Eddie said, there’s too many chiefs and no clear lines of communication.
Until there’s a system that isn’t run like a 6th grade play, there will be problems.
I have a feeling that this year the shit will truly hit the fan. We shall see what young Jedi is really about. You can run Jed but you cannot hide.
Better bring on the music videos. 49er sports talk is a funeral.
Shit hitting the fan or no, at least the team will be more interesting than last year. Losing boringly and slowly was terrible.
Word is RG III will sign (and thus kill his career) with Cleveland.
New thread is up.