The 49ers placed Jonas Jennings on injured reserve today, likely bringing a close to the oft-injured tackle's career with the club.
Jennings missed all or parts of 47 games due to injuries in four seasons with the 49ers. He sustained a dislocated shoulder Sept. 14 in the 49ers' second game of the season. Adam Snyder has played well at right tackle the past two games.
Jennings underwent surgery today to repair his right shoulder.
He is scheduled to earn $4.2 million in salary in 2009 as part of the original seven-year, $36 million contract he signed on the first day of free agency in 2005. He has three years remaining on his contract, which includes non-guaranteed salaries totaling $13.65 million. (Actually, 2011 is an option year, so he has two years and a non-guaranteed $8.5 million remaining on his original deal.)
If Jennings is released in the offseason, he will still count $3.5 million against the 49ers' 2009 salary cap, but the 49ers would realize a cap savings of more than $3 million from his scheduled cap figure of $6.59 million.
The 49ers replaced Jennings on the 53-man roster with second-year tackle Jacob Bender, who was signed from the Patriots practice squad. Bender (6-6, 315) was originally selected by the Jets in the sixth round of the 2007 draft out of NichollsState.
It's a shame. Jonas is a very good tackle when healthy, and he really seems to be well-liked in the locker room. I wish things had gone better for the poor guy.
Disappointing but not surprising. The guy was a durability risk when he was signed. Has there been a good offensive free agent signing by the Niners under McNolan? JTO, Foster, Bruce or any of the other dozen WRs? Nope. Perhaps Sims but clearly their ability to assess talent has been on the defensive side of the ball.
I don't know why everyone rips the free agent signings so much. Jennings was the only high-priced free agent bust. Of the ones txniner listed O'Sullivan and Foster were signed to be backups and Bruce has been solid and helpful to the young receivers. And guys like the WR-of-the-year and Banta-Cain weren't expensive signings so it's not really a bust, they played to their contracts and no more.
Meanwhile, nobody mentions guys like Clements and Michael Lewis, who've been incredibly solid especially without the help of a pass rush, or Justin Smith who seems to be in the backfield on every play, or Takeo Spikes who's regained his old form.
What I'm saying is the Niners' free agent fortunes are on par with if not slightly better than the rest of the league if you don't ignore the good.
Look for McCloughin to draft an OL or a Dl in the first round again. You never can have enough of those guys. The problem with the OL right now is that they have a bunch of guys who are average. The younger guys (Staley, Wallace and Rachel) still have time to develop. It looks like Wallace is going to have to sit for at least another year unless they change positions for him. Wragge and Baas are both signed through '09. Rachel isn't going anywhere and they just signed Heitmann thru '11. So the interior line is stable. Snyder is signed thu '11. If they could draft elite OT (Oher, Monroe, Smith), it would solidify the OL for a couple of years. I am hoping that they let Rachel and/or Wallace (Heitmann playing OG) get some playing time. It would be great to upgrade the talent from average to good.
I was going to suggest as an option to go after Jordan Gross/OT from the Panthers in FA allowing us to go after another stud prime player with our 1st pick instead possibly on the DLine (or BPA in a position of need that's a close to can't miss starter with star potential..IMO that's how I see Rey Maualuga as a TED, IF WE CHOOSE TO STAY WITH THE 3-4D.) But after this train wreck NO WAY. We have to learn from this mistake.
IMO it's best & the safest route to take an OT with the 1st pick if one of the top tier guys are there. Get them from the get go when they're just starting to reach their peak instead of risking that their body might break down as with JJ. My favs are Oher, EMonroe, & ASmith. I say safe because for example as compared to the DLine if your offensive tackle can't handle it you can always try a save & move him at guard (I'm surprised Cable in Oakland didn't do this for Kwame.)
I'm feel a lot better & more confident in Rachal than I do with Wallace. Wallace was a 4th rounder right?
We could have got....Carl Nicks, Red Bryant, Rubin. I can't remember when Frank Okam was taken. We take an undersized center instead?? Maybe Wallace will prove me wrong but IMO we could have got someone a whole lot better in a higher position of need. No doubt you can never have enough quality OL & DLinemen. McCloughan needs to get that in his head ASAP by this next offseason.
Matt - The Bills coaches / front office predicted Jennings' eggshell health as soon as he signed in SF. The Niners were green and desperate to protect Alex, so I understand the mistake. Can you think of many big dollar free agents who shake the "fragile" label and perform as hoped?
I'm glad to see the team moving forward after what turned out to be a mistake. Let's face it, when they signed Jennings, they were desperate, and few free agents wanted to come here. So it was understandable. He played well when on the field. But time to move on. I looks like with Singletary as HC (not sure who made the decision), we are changing things that don't work.
never happy to see a player go on the i.r. but this is a part of the game especially with the high level of contact. having jonas out will allow the team to have a more defined plan of the o-line. lets remember that snyder and bass are still relatively young at their positions and are showing improvement, now add rachal and wallace to the mix and we have some hope for the future. at least we could look at next years draft as choosing players at key positions rather than making wholesale moves for a change.
I agree OL or DL first round next year...here we go again looking forward to the draft barely half way through the season, ugh. Anyway i'm hoping DL just because since Kwame i hate seeing the 9ers take OL in the first round, but by gones be by gones we need someone to spell staley on the right.
Finally! He might be a nice fella, but JJ was always just a cap eater with the Niners. Parting ways is good news all around.
So, several good things have happened since Nolan was ouster: JJ's gone; Snyder's where he should be -- either at tackle or all-around back-up; and, most important, the Niners' best OL by far, Baas, is finally playing and making a difference. Now if someone would just pay some attention and notice that -- no matter hyow smart, nice, whatever the guy is -- Heitmann is just no longer a good center, and really hasn't been since the injury, though he's not as terrible this year as last. His problem is that he's way too slow to pick up gap blitzes, which were just killing the team until Baas started playing. Time to see if Wallace can cut it; I do like what I'm starting to see from Rachal, though. All in all, if the DL were improving like the OL, we might be able to get someplace.
Hi Matt, He was alot like Nolan, they both couldn't produce. I remember a quote from a GM after the Jennings signing say that the guy never played a full season. Nolan could've waited and used that money for something else. Just a note about Singletary being only a defensive type. In the 1950's the Giants defensive coach was Tom Landry and the offensive coach was Vince Lombardi. When they became head coaches they did quite well on the other side of the ball too. So it's all about football and Singletary will do well on the offense side.
Rachal is going to be something special. Just with the bit of time he has got out there I have seen him stand people up at the line of scrimmage, he finishes his blocks with some nastiness, I like it! Baas looks good as well hes violent, I like it! Singletary has found a much better formula with the same players Nolan had. I think hes doing a very good job.
Mike in SF, Singletary appreciates balance on both sides of the ball. Run to pass and stop the run.
We have more then ample personnel on the OL that can step up and play if you give them time together on the trenches.
Chemistry on any OL in the league has to be developed on the playing field as well as in practice.
Game plan for Da Boys, ball control. They see us as chum. Kick them in the teeth. Portis was nicked and the 'Skins didn't pound on them long enough. We can and should. Use the entire stable of RBs to wear these guys out. They want to pass rush and are not disciplined enough IMO to stand up to a solid run first attack.
How sweet it would be to have T.O. standing on the sidelines all afternoon on Sunday.
Likewise, we'll need to have a solid defensive effort to keep Marion in check and not let Owens/Williams /Whitten get comfortable.
Should be a good GPS game Matt.
Singletary earns an extension if he knocks Jerry Jones off the playoff calendar.
Derail Da 'Boys.
I'd like to make a comment but all I get these days is people quoting my posts, calling me dumb or disagreeing with me, yet them also having nothing to say that is either a) new and insightful or b) even remotely connected with any of my points.
The worst was the other day when not one but 2 people called me out for saying things...WHICH I NEVER EVEN FREAKIN' SAID!
So, with all that in mind, my comment for today is, "Go Niners"...
...lets see which 'tard takes issue with that!
WON'T BE MISSED -- Jennings will not be missed. Besides being injured most of the time, when he was on the field he did not perform well. It's nice of 49er personnel to make positive comments about Jennings (and in their best interest to do so) but watching him in action did not support those comments. When I focused on Jennings at tackle, what I saw all too often was a slow guy waving at defensive ends as they went past him--then Jennings chasing them in a too-late mission.
MikeinMD - The way I see it the problem was never the system (3-4) it was the vanilla approach that was used with it (Nolan's fault). The 3-4 if used aggresively can really have an offense scratching their heads, specially if we use Justin Smith in the rol we are using him now. A blitz can come from anywhere. Also, Nolan was never able to get that critical NT.
TJHooker - Welcome to the bandwagon, now lets give some support to Coach Sing. I really think he's going to change things around if we give him next year to prove it.
Regarding the Jennings situation, I agree he never lived up to the price, but it wasnt his fault. And if you notice, we signed Jennings, drafted Alex Smith, David Baas, Frank Gore and Adam Snyder. You`d have to be stupid to not see what the plan was. Unfortunately the OL took more time to mature (Snyder and Baas). But I think the OL will be alot better with the new formula.
Matt, do you have more data on the new guy we picked up from the Pats. Behind the OL they have on the roaster you might find a gem in the rough. He does have the size, it seems Coach Sing is going for the mauler type. Also, what happened to the sites you had in your old blog. Specifically the salary cap website.
Will be curious to see if they spend a high draft pick on an OT or give Snyder the job and draft for depth later on. The key, as with any OL is consistancy. They need to find their top 5 and stick with them. Seems like they have found 4, but there is room for improvement. I have been impressed with Rachal and would love to see him get the start at RG.
As with anything on this team, I guess most of this will be up in the air until the new coaching staff is in place.
If we cut both Jennings and Alex Smith, that's over 10 million going out and costing us good players in the draft. I feel we need to keep both players.
I disagree. They will probably bring Smith back with a dramatic pay cut, but Jennings getting cut will give the niners a 3 mil. savings. Smith isn't getting any offers from anyone other then Norv Turner, and he has no say in who they bring in in San Diego. Plus Smith can be a reliable back up for the Niners at a cheap price next year. He can pay his dues on the bench, come in when he is called upon, and maybe still be the Niners future. He is still one of the younger players in the league, and he is McCloughans guy, as long as McCloughan doesn't get canned, he has a spot with the team.
Matt, with the way the O line improved in the past couple of games, do you think it has anything to do with the fact that Warhop is no longer there? I know that Martz didn't call as many 7 step drops for Hill but the line seemed to play with more aggression. However, they still need to be able to pick up the blitz inside when the other team is anticipating the snap count. Arizona did it a few times and caused a fumble by Hill.
Wow. I know how frustrated we fans are, but I can't imagine how JJ feels.
Rollin' with Nolan... out the door!
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Who is Matt?
Matt Maiocco is in his 14th year covering the 49ers. He has reported for The Press Democrat since 2000. He is a three-time winner of Pro Football Writers of America awards. Rotoworld.com ranked "Instant 49ers" as the No. 2 NFL team blog in the country in 2007. Maiocco has written two books, "Roger Craig's Tales from the 49ers Sideline" and "San Francisco 49ers: Where Have You Gone?" Matt can also be heard regularly on KNBR (680-AM) during the season. He is also been added this season as a regular guest on ESPN's "First Take."
Man that's so disappointing.. The first free agent of the Nolan era - a bust
He seems like a good guy and he's a great tackle when healthy. Too bad that happens so rarely.
Any idea if it's Snyder or Sims who'll get the nod to be the full-time RT? Here's hoping for Snyder, he plays much better at tackle than guard.
It's a shame. Jonas is a very good tackle when healthy, and he really seems to be well-liked in the locker room. I wish things had gone better for the poor guy.
Disappointing but not surprising. The guy was a durability risk when he was signed. Has there been a good offensive free agent signing by the Niners under McNolan? JTO, Foster, Bruce or any of the other dozen WRs? Nope. Perhaps Sims but clearly their ability to assess talent has been on the defensive side of the ball.
I don't know why everyone rips the free agent signings so much. Jennings was the only high-priced free agent bust. Of the ones txniner listed O'Sullivan and Foster were signed to be backups and Bruce has been solid and helpful to the young receivers. And guys like the WR-of-the-year and Banta-Cain weren't expensive signings so it's not really a bust, they played to their contracts and no more.
Meanwhile, nobody mentions guys like Clements and Michael Lewis, who've been incredibly solid especially without the help of a pass rush, or Justin Smith who seems to be in the backfield on every play, or Takeo Spikes who's regained his old form.
What I'm saying is the Niners' free agent fortunes are on par with if not slightly better than the rest of the league if you don't ignore the good.
Look for McCloughin to draft an OL or a Dl in the first round again. You never can have enough of those guys. The problem with the OL right now is that they have a bunch of guys who are average. The younger guys (Staley, Wallace and Rachel) still have time to develop. It looks like Wallace is going to have to sit for at least another year unless they change positions for him. Wragge and Baas are both signed through '09. Rachel isn't going anywhere and they just signed Heitmann thru '11. So the interior line is stable. Snyder is signed thu '11. If they could draft elite OT (Oher, Monroe, Smith), it would solidify the OL for a couple of years. I am hoping that they let Rachel and/or Wallace (Heitmann playing OG) get some playing time. It would be great to upgrade the talent from average to good.
I was going to suggest as an option to go after Jordan Gross/OT from the Panthers in FA allowing us to go after another stud prime player with our 1st pick instead possibly on the DLine (or BPA in a position of need that's a close to can't miss starter with star potential..IMO that's how I see Rey Maualuga as a TED, IF WE CHOOSE TO STAY WITH THE 3-4D.) But after this train wreck NO WAY. We have to learn from this mistake.
IMO it's best & the safest route to take an OT with the 1st pick if one of the top tier guys are there. Get them from the get go when they're just starting to reach their peak instead of risking that their body might break down as with JJ. My favs are Oher, EMonroe, & ASmith. I say safe because for example as compared to the DLine if your offensive tackle can't handle it you can always try a save & move him at guard (I'm surprised Cable in Oakland didn't do this for Kwame.)
I'm feel a lot better & more confident in Rachal than I do with Wallace. Wallace was a 4th rounder right?
We could have got....Carl Nicks, Red Bryant, Rubin. I can't remember when Frank Okam was taken. We take an undersized center instead?? Maybe Wallace will prove me wrong but IMO we could have got someone a whole lot better in a higher position of need. No doubt you can never have enough quality OL & DLinemen. McCloughan needs to get that in his head ASAP by this next offseason.
Matt - The Bills coaches / front office predicted Jennings' eggshell health as soon as he signed in SF. The Niners were green and desperate to protect Alex, so I understand the mistake. Can you think of many big dollar free agents who shake the "fragile" label and perform as hoped?
I'm glad to see the team moving forward after what turned out to be a mistake. Let's face it, when they signed Jennings, they were desperate, and few free agents wanted to come here. So it was understandable. He played well when on the field. But time to move on. I looks like with Singletary as HC (not sure who made the decision), we are changing things that don't work.
never happy to see a player go on the i.r. but this is a part of the game especially with the high level of contact. having jonas out will allow the team to have a more defined plan of the o-line. lets remember that snyder and bass are still relatively young at their positions and are showing improvement, now add rachal and wallace to the mix and we have some hope for the future. at least we could look at next years draft as choosing players at key positions rather than making wholesale moves for a change.
I agree OL or DL first round next year...here we go again looking forward to the draft barely half way through the season, ugh. Anyway i'm hoping DL just because since Kwame i hate seeing the 9ers take OL in the first round, but by gones be by gones we need someone to spell staley on the right.
Finally! He might be a nice fella, but JJ was always just a cap eater with the Niners. Parting ways is good news all around.
So, several good things have happened since Nolan was ouster: JJ's gone; Snyder's where he should be -- either at tackle or all-around back-up; and, most important, the Niners' best OL by far, Baas, is finally playing and making a difference. Now if someone would just pay some attention and notice that -- no matter hyow smart, nice, whatever the guy is -- Heitmann is just no longer a good center, and really hasn't been since the injury, though he's not as terrible this year as last. His problem is that he's way too slow to pick up gap blitzes, which were just killing the team until Baas started playing. Time to see if Wallace can cut it; I do like what I'm starting to see from Rachal, though. All in all, if the DL were improving like the OL, we might be able to get someplace.
Hi Matt, He was alot like Nolan, they both couldn't produce. I remember a quote from a GM after the Jennings signing say that the guy never played a full season. Nolan could've waited and used that money for something else. Just a note about Singletary being only a defensive type. In the 1950's the Giants defensive coach was Tom Landry and the offensive coach was Vince Lombardi. When they became head coaches they did quite well on the other side of the ball too. So it's all about football and Singletary will do well on the offense side.
Rachal is going to be something special. Just with the bit of time he has got out there I have seen him stand people up at the line of scrimmage, he finishes his blocks with some nastiness, I like it! Baas looks good as well hes violent, I like it! Singletary has found a much better formula with the same players Nolan had. I think hes doing a very good job.
Mike in SF, Singletary appreciates balance on both sides of the ball. Run to pass and stop the run.
We have more then ample personnel on the OL that can step up and play if you give them time together on the trenches.
Chemistry on any OL in the league has to be developed on the playing field as well as in practice.
Game plan for Da Boys, ball control. They see us as chum. Kick them in the teeth. Portis was nicked and the 'Skins didn't pound on them long enough. We can and should. Use the entire stable of RBs to wear these guys out. They want to pass rush and are not disciplined enough IMO to stand up to a solid run first attack.
How sweet it would be to have T.O. standing on the sidelines all afternoon on Sunday.
Likewise, we'll need to have a solid defensive effort to keep Marion in check and not let Owens/Williams /Whitten get comfortable.
Should be a good GPS game Matt.
Singletary earns an extension if he knocks Jerry Jones off the playoff calendar.
Derail Da 'Boys.
I'd like to make a comment but all I get these days is people quoting my posts, calling me dumb or disagreeing with me, yet them also having nothing to say that is either a) new and insightful or b) even remotely connected with any of my points.
The worst was the other day when not one but 2 people called me out for saying things...WHICH I NEVER EVEN FREAKIN' SAID!
So, with all that in mind, my comment for today is, "Go Niners"...
...lets see which 'tard takes issue with that!
WON'T BE MISSED -- Jennings will not be missed. Besides being injured most of the time, when he was on the field he did not perform well. It's nice of 49er personnel to make positive comments about Jennings (and in their best interest to do so) but watching him in action did not support those comments. When I focused on Jennings at tackle, what I saw all too often was a slow guy waving at defensive ends as they went past him--then Jennings chasing them in a too-late mission.
MikeinMD - The way I see it the problem was never the system (3-4) it was the vanilla approach that was used with it (Nolan's fault). The 3-4 if used aggresively can really have an offense scratching their heads, specially if we use Justin Smith in the rol we are using him now. A blitz can come from anywhere. Also, Nolan was never able to get that critical NT.
TJHooker - Welcome to the bandwagon, now lets give some support to Coach Sing. I really think he's going to change things around if we give him next year to prove it.
Regarding the Jennings situation, I agree he never lived up to the price, but it wasnt his fault. And if you notice, we signed Jennings, drafted Alex Smith, David Baas, Frank Gore and Adam Snyder. You`d have to be stupid to not see what the plan was. Unfortunately the OL took more time to mature (Snyder and Baas). But I think the OL will be alot better with the new formula.
Matt, do you have more data on the new guy we picked up from the Pats. Behind the OL they have on the roaster you might find a gem in the rough. He does have the size, it seems Coach Sing is going for the mauler type. Also, what happened to the sites you had in your old blog. Specifically the salary cap website.
Good riddence!
Will be curious to see if they spend a high draft pick on an OT or give Snyder the job and draft for depth later on. The key, as with any OL is consistancy. They need to find their top 5 and stick with them. Seems like they have found 4, but there is room for improvement. I have been impressed with Rachal and would love to see him get the start at RG.
As with anything on this team, I guess most of this will be up in the air until the new coaching staff is in place.
If we cut both Jennings and Alex Smith, that's over 10 million going out and costing us good players in the draft. I feel we need to keep both players.
I disagree. They will probably bring Smith back with a dramatic pay cut, but Jennings getting cut will give the niners a 3 mil. savings. Smith isn't getting any offers from anyone other then Norv Turner, and he has no say in who they bring in in San Diego. Plus Smith can be a reliable back up for the Niners at a cheap price next year. He can pay his dues on the bench, come in when he is called upon, and maybe still be the Niners future. He is still one of the younger players in the league, and he is McCloughans guy, as long as McCloughan doesn't get canned, he has a spot with the team.
Matt, with the way the O line improved in the past couple of games, do you think it has anything to do with the fact that Warhop is no longer there? I know that Martz didn't call as many 7 step drops for Hill but the line seemed to play with more aggression. However, they still need to be able to pick up the blitz inside when the other team is anticipating the snap count. Arizona did it a few times and caused a fumble by Hill.
OK, count me in on cut Jennings.
Good. riddance.
Wow. I know how frustrated we fans are, but I can't imagine how JJ feels.
Rollin' with Nolan... out the door!