San Francisco 49ers Forever

Now that most of the wheeling and dealing is done, the 49ers have come out smelling like a rose. You have t hand it to Paraage Marathe and the job he has done with the contracts. We have retained top slot corner K’Waun Williams, CB Jason Verrett, FB extraordinaire Kyle Juicechick, safety Jaquiski Tartt, blindside tackle Trent Williams, and DT DJ Jones.

They signed Ram DE Samson Ebukam and most importantly signed C Alex Mack from the Falcons. Center was a position of desperate need and though Mack is 35, he’s playing at a very high level. They also brought back Mohammed Sanu for shits and giggles.

The most important aspect of this is they restructured Dee Ford and Westie Richie’s contracts, and as of now they STILL have close to $20 million in cap space.

Call it a convergence of tight wallets and little money to throw around, but the Niners came out of free agency positioned about as well as a team could be positioned. They have leveraged their future on this upcoming draft, but that again is due to the front office’s drive to keep the pedal to the metal as this young team hopefully healthys up and makes a strong push for the Super Bowl.

Even still, they could gain a lot of draft capital (and cap space) back by trading Jimmy Garoppolo. There is still interest from the Patriots, so time will tell.

As far as who we pick on April 29th? Shit, I don’t know. I’m 90% sure Wilson will be gone so it falls to:

1. Justin Fields (fast, athletic, strong, tough – one-read wonder?)
2. Mac Jones (big arm, hits all the passes – fat, slow)
3. Trey Lance (big, strong, makes the throws, mobile – least polished, biggest project)

All have strong plusses and decent minusses, so let the debate begin.

I tell ya, I’m a bit shocked. This isn’t a move that this team usually does. But with a stacked group of QBs, the Niners made their move by trading with the Dolphins. A team I picked only yesterday as a trade partner. We get the #3 pick in exchange for our 12th pick in this draft, our 1st round pick next year, and our 3rd round comp pick next year.

This of course will net us what looks to be Zac Wilson of BYU. Some mocks have the Jets taking Wilson, so that would net us Justin Fields. Whoever it is, it will be a huge risk for this team, but one they feel is necessary to get the team over the top. That being said, I don’t think the new guy gets much playing time, barring injuries, because the prudent thing to do would be to ease the new guy into the very complicated Shanahan offense.

Sure, this team still has holes to fill (slot WR? LB depth? OL depth?) but this is a bold statement that this team is in win-now mode.

Speaking of Wilson, there are reports that he’s a super-entitled rich boy (a la Johnny Manziel) who may shy away from the work needed to jump to the rigors of the NFL game. His uncle owns Jet Blue and there’s fear that he’s a flash in the pan. a 1-year wonder. Frankly, if we could get Fields, I’d be ecstatic, but i think either one will be better than Jimmy G, so here we go. This is either a bold gamble that pays off huge, or they just set the program back a few years.

We won’t likely know till 2023, but hey, at least they made things interesting.

Since I’ve pulled the plug on basic cable, and thus, no ESPN, I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing Mel Kiper’s unfrozen head spewing utter nonsense in the face of the upcoming draft. I’m sure someone had done an accuracy report on these guys, and their success ratio has to be less than 1%. I mean, once you get past the first 5-6 picks of the 1st round, everyone goes off the rails.

My amazing prognostication in the 2008 draft at the Niner Insider should have gotten me a high-paying job in Vegas, for fuck’s sake. I picked 2 guys right in that draft in Kentwan Balmer and Colin Kaepernick. I did get a signed Alex Smith jersey worth $150. Unfortunately, the unsigned one is worth $200.

But I digress.

Funny, mock drafts now are full of trades. They were rarely accounted for in most mocks, but now I’ve seen us trading with the Vikes, the Jags, the Jets, and the Dolphins.

Someone WILL trade down unless all the suspected QBs don’t go before us. I’m not counting on it, but then again it wouldn’t surprise me one bit. Thing is, we can kill in if there’s a QB on the board and someone wants to throw picks at us. We can parlay that into draft capital, and still pick someone up down the draft.

I wonder if we have been looking at Davis Mills at Stanfoo? Big guy, big arm but not much experience. He gets the ball out quickly, and is accurate. Another guy is Kenny Pickett. Big but moves well and has the tools to throw the ball deep. Accuracy, experience and the speed of the NFL game is something everyone needs to learn, and as a lot of the recent QB busts have shown, a high draft doesn’t guarantee success at the NFL level.

I have no idea how they play this, but so far I’ve liked the moves they have made to shore up the team. Restructuring Westie and Ford garnered us an extra $12 mill in cap space. Yes, we still need help at WR, backup QB, future QB, and more bodies sprinkled around the O line, LB, and DB, we have signed a lot of the guys that made this team successful.

You guys have any sleeper QBs you’d like to see thrown a bone?

The Niners are still making moves, they signed Jaquiski Tartt to a one-year deal, and they signed strong safety Tavon Wilson to a one-year deal as well. They also kept Jason Verrett (yay!) and Dontae (what, me cover?) Johnson. I guess we need bodies in camp, so we’ll see how this shakes out, but with Tavarius Moore already signed, we have some things to work out. But I like the signings as we need to keep the pieces ready, and Wilson at least has been in a lot of strong systems, and looks to be a steadying presence in the absence of Richard Sherman.

That being said, the move we are still dreaming on, Deshaun Watson, has hit a series of roadblocks. Either Watson did nothing wrong (wink wink) at the massage parlors, didn’t get the happy ending he thought he deserved after getting a massage, or he’s a major douche nozzle who is playing the “do you know who I am?” card and getting aggressive.

I’m no lawyer, but when these things happen and the people involved do not file criminal charges, wait for a year to come forward, and their lawyer trolls for others to come forward to join the gravy train, it smacks of a money grab.

No idea how this works out, but fortunately for the six teams supposedly in the running for Watson, there is no timetable to the trade. This situation can at least be dealt with before any decisions are made, but all involved would like to get this taken care of before the draft.

Like sands through the hourglass, these are the days of our lives . . .

6 years and $138 mill for Trent Williams, AND we signed center Alex Mack to boot. Now we have the Deshaun Watson rumors heating up. He reportedly has narrowed his choices to two teams. The 49ers and the Broncos.

And with this attention to the O line, does this mean we are serious about getting Watson? I still think it would cost way too much, but Watson’s claim to want to play here certainly gives the 49ers some leverage. Watson could do what Trent Williams did, and sit out a season in order to force Houston’s hand. With that possibility hanging over the Texans’ collective head, they may take a deal that isn’t so costly.

I mean we all saw DeAndre Hopkins go to the fucking Cards for pocket change. Let’s hope the powers that be in our front office can package something up not too damaging.

We would be an instant powerhouse with Watson on the team.

We wait with baited breath.

Well, it looks like we’ve signed everyone BUT Trent Williams. Emmanuel Moseley got a 2 year, $10 million deal, Kyle Juicechick got a 5 year, $27 mill deal, and we also just signed Jason Verrett to a one-year $5.5 mill deal, and now Dee Ford agreed to a restructured 2 year, $24 mill deal. The restructure takes came of the $11 mill they’d be on the hook for if he was on the team, but hurt. The restructure means they are banking on him not being able to pass a physical come April Fools Day. For insurance purposes, they just signed OLB Samson Ebukam from the Rams, 2 years, $12 mill.

The 49ers are also apparently interested in Mitch Trubiscuit. Say it ain’t so! But I guess we are still looking to sign Williams. Kendrick Bourne looks to be signed by the Patriots, and while I like him in the red zone, hopefully we won’t miss him that much.

Anyhow, as it stands, I like what they’ve done so far. Minus Trent Williams.

Well, maybe. That’s the talk anyway. From Trent himself, who said “Y’all are barking up the right tree.” Works for me. He was dinged up and didn’t play perfectly, but he’s worlds better than Mike McGlinchey, or any other guy currently on the squad. With Westie Richie Hurtie out for yet another year with yet another injury, we need help across the line. Center being a big glaring need. Something we most likely address in round 1 or 2 of the upcoming draft.

It would be nice to gain some depth as well. Raider Gabe Jackson is on our radar, as is center/guard Ethan Pocic of the Seahawks. Poach one of their guys, for a change. He’s not spectacular, but he can play all 3 interior line spots, and started 14 games last year. Canter Alex Mack is available. Even at 35, he is playing at a very high level, and likely wouldn’t be too too much money. Much less than what we are on the hook for Westie anyway. I would love to see us get at least 2 guys in free agency to bolster the line, and get a better sense of what spot we draft for in April.

We very well could draft for McGlinchey’s RT spot as he has become a giant liability in pass protection, and may warrant a move inside to RG. Anyhow, not much going on out there in football-land. But things will get rolling once free agency hits.

If this is the Queen’s Gambit, then these are the opening moves. The 49ers signed restricted free agents Jeff Wilson, Ross Dwelley and Marcel Harris to one-year extensions. Wilson had a pretty great season as the back up to the back up, and ended up with 600 yards (a hefty 4.8 yards/carry average) and 7 TDs in 12 games (3 starts), along with 133 yards and 3 TDs on 13 catches. An easy signing. Dwelley and Harris however are coming off fair-to-middling seasons so they are low-cost deals. Dwelley had a decent year catching passes, but was called on a lot of holding call and false starts. Harris has some solid special teams plays, but his safety work is iffy at best. Reed is a better backup, but we have to see how he holds up health-wise.

The last restricted FA I want to see signed to a deal is Emmanuel Moseley. He is a plus defender and he is the only CB they even have nominal control over. Sign him to an incentive-laden deal.

Shrivel-dick Mullens is the other restricted FA, but his days here are done. We had such hope after some decent play from him, but he became a turnover machine that ended up costing us 3-4 games last year. Say hello to Alex Smith. Hah! Somewhere NoFear is spinning under his busted-ass trailer.

Huh. Looks like Young Sir Alex is coming back to the Niners. Possible? Probable? Who cares? I’d rather see Frank Gore back in the Red and Gold, if anyone. If we get to the point of Smith coming back and starting, we are fucked anyway. Still think we either get Mac Jones in the 2nd round or we trade up for someone. Then again, we may very well just see if Trey Lance falls to us. Which is slightly possible. More likely if we trade up with, say Cincinnati at 5. Regardless, we would be carrying 3 QBs. Which is prudent.

Irregardless, the Niners may be wise to look at Gabe Jackson, right guard on the Raiders set to be a cap casualty. We desperately need line depth, and he would bolster our line immediately. We can then go for a center in free agency or the draft, as Westie Richie is Toastie for yet another season with a recent hip surgery that will end his 2021 season.

Man, the blogosphere sure has a way of going nuts around our quarterback situation. Peter King has us in a 3 way trade with the Vikes and the Texans where we give up a 1st round pick and Jimmy G for, wait for it, Kirk Cousins. Brilliant. King seems to be hitting the bong a little too hard. Comfort with Cousins or not, trading a 1st round pick to get a guy who has less success than Jimmy G is ludicrous. Granted, Jimmy G isn’t any supreme talent, I’d only put him in the top half of the league when healthy, but he’s coming off a bad year that was not going well even before he got hurt. Cousins is the same cat. Insanely bad trade idea.

The other trade proposal from King gives Tex Fred Warner, Jimmy G, and McGlinchey plus two 1st round picks for Deshaun Watson. The idea of getting Watson is certainly something I would be highly intrigued about, no matter what the cost, should we pull the trigger. But losing all that draft capital and players would be a tough thing to deal with, and frankly, I’d rather see Bosa go than Warner, mainly because of Bosa’s checkered health history. He may very well end up like JJ Watt. A phenomenal talent that can’t stay on the field. Still and all, a steep price to pay.

But if they do do that, I’d be very excited. Watson is a legit stud, and would make plays our last 10 QBs combined couldn’t even dream of. That being said, I get that Deshaun is a phenomenal talent, I just don’t see the upside to gutting the team in that regard. Defense does win championships, and yes, so do quarterbacks. But Warner is a talent we can’t lose. McGlinchey? Sure, he can go. He’s gonna end up a guard in the near future anyway, so his stock is middling at best. Wouldn’t miss him much.

So, I don’t think John Lynch and company take the ginormous risk in getting Watson when they have the possibility of riding their defense to another Super Bowl trip. Jimmy G was just one pass from winning it, and the Niners were one horrible 3rd down and 24 stop from winning it as well. Sure, I’d be excited as hell if they pulled the trigger, but this team doesn’t make moves like this.

And RIP Dick Witcher. I saw him score the game-winning touchdown in the south end zone of the 1971 NFC Divisional playoff game as an injured John Brodie came into the game in the 4th quarter and led the team to 2 late TDs to beat the Vikings. Course I went to the game the next weekend as well . . .