Bass will get resigned and i highly doubt Rachal will play RT for the niners. Those two give us some big physical guys inside that can move DT back for tough yards.

My guess is we draft or sign a RT and keep the line intact for some time to come

Wait, an uncapped year? So that means the a generous owner can just sign anybody he wants?

You know whats funny? if the 9ers won the @ARI and @ MIA games they would be probably be in the playoffs right now. I predict a Manning bowl although TEN and PIT are at home but IND has an underrated D, also it would be tough to beat NYG at home.

C'mon, Matt, you're really rooting for the Cardinals? Probably the worst team to make the playoffs in the history of the NFL? They don't in any way deserve to be where they are, no teams in the NFC west deserve a playoff game, let alone a HOME playoff game.

I recommend McClueless invests in the franchise Qb Nate
Davis with his 2nd round pick if he is available which I doubt he will be.

With an upcapped year (and potentially the end of the salary cap) looming, do you sense that the cap will seriously restrict the 49ers from pursuing an elite free agent this year, or should?

Specifically, I would think Jordan Gross would be a great fit, given that Jennings is going to be cut and Snyder is better suited to be a jack of all trades backup.

The edge will be available and I'm sure he would be more than happy to punish the team that refused to use him unless it meant blocking.

I'm curious as to why you feel SF will keep their wallet tucked away this offseason. Seems that we will have plenty of cap room to attempt to bring in a stud or two.

haha however I don't think James will want to play second fiddle to gore. the cards played an amazing game, next year and beyond it'll be the niner's turn though.

Q: when you talk about 'cap hits' for Smith and Jennings I'm assuming you mean that is the total net acceleration of future bonus money, correct? So that means when the team moves Smith, we'd save 9.625M in salary, take on 5.333M in new cap charges for a net cap savings of around 4.3M, right? So the 'hit' is the amount of acceleration, not the net cap effect. (CT49er)

Ugh, yeah, that's what I was gonna say.

I don't think many NFL Owners will open up their wallets considering they are complaining about e NFL's CBA now. Currently players get 59.5% of all revenue. The owners say that is too much and it must come down. The current economic downturn situation is for real. You will see a decline of NFL revenues next year and that is why they laid off 10% of NFL employees. It cost me $30 bucks to park in a dirt parking lot. $98.50 for a ticket, and that's why I gave up my season tickets last year.

Maybe because Jed said so in his KNBR interview.

Matt can you do an asessment of last year's draft picks and how they contributed this year and how you see them contributing in the future. By the end of the year I think 3 of them were playing significantly, Morgan, Balmer and Rachal.

Matt -

Foster isn't a bad back up, but we aren't looking for a back up, we need starter A (Gore) and B (whoever). If we dont we are going to run Gore into the ground and he will be out of the league in two years.

Matt doesn't think assigning "grades" to a draft class is productive until at least 3 years out.

With the joy of offseason speculation upon us, I'm racking my brain on how the Nolan-less GM Scot is planning to attack the personnel market.
With Haynesworth being the primary, and only noteworthy NT to potentially hit the market, would we be wise to perhaps place a heavy premium on Suggs and Spikes and perhaps seek a lesser priced alternative like Rocky Bernard for NT?
Mike in MD makes an excellent case for Maualuga and I'm all for help in the LB corps, but what is our most glaring need if not a true 3-4 NT?
The harder I study the needs, the more I keep coming back to a NT, the hardest of pieces to find.
Assume Haynesworth is not obtainable, Suggs brings instant run and pass pressure while perhaps giving us a most formidable LB tier if we can manage to retain Spikes.
I know we've got coutless options to weigh including the OL, but it's most interesting to see how Scot addresses the needs without Nolan as the wing/trigger man this offseason.
Don't even throw in the CB argument at 10 because I already feel Nate should be playing FS.
How much fun is this time of year when optimism goes unchallenged and the Draft slot you have is the Draft slot you keep?

Jon in SoCal I didn't ask him to grade them, just to asess their contributions this season in his opinion.

......it's possible the cards may make it to the superbowl.....not the "common sense" way to play ball but they keep winning......

Go Chargers!

Sign Sproles! Sign Sproles! Sign Sproles!

The cardinals are going to get CRUSHED....I mean TRULY embarrassed in their next game. No matter what happens with tomorrow's matchup, they're going to be going to the east coast and playing an actual NFL team. They have no business being in the playoffs, and next week we'll see why.

Yeah! Pay a guy starter money when we already have a great starting RB! Great idea...

I think your idea is much smarter. Good job.

if jed york said on knbr that he is not going to make a serious investment in fre agency then he is clearly not commited to making the niners an elite team again.he ,as with his dad, must also be a billy beane fan.just put a salable product on the field and take the suckers/ money.sadly,i was hoping for jordan gross too.

I don't need an idea, because it's already been stated- there's nothing wrong with the Gore/Foster combo. RB isn't the reason the niners missed the playoffs this season. A mixture of coaching, J.T O'sullivan, and a lack of a pass rush all contributed a lot more to the losing. Also, not having a safety who can create any kind of turnovers.

There is no way that signing sproles would in any way make sense for him or the niners. Why would he come here when another team would give him a starting gig? Why would the niners spend the money they could pay a pass rusher on a backup RB?

Now that Singletary is the head coach, who is the linebackers coach? Does this guy have enough experience or should they look elsewhere? I'd love to see Ken Norton Jr. back with the 9ers.

Yeah but that goes on McCloughan as well. If Scott believes in going after 1 or 2 FA's it's his job to try & convince Jed. Hard to figure who really decided not to spend if that's what they're going to follow through on. Jed, Scott, or was it mutual? Following all the news what I'm getting is Jed relies 100% on McCloughan's advice on how to run the team being that he still has a long way in finishing his OJT.

foster is fine as back-up,but the unremarked point is that good teams that emphasize the run have two eunning backs ,neither of whom is aback-up.for example,the dolphins, saints.vikings,panthers,toname only a few.the use of two is integral to their game-planning..sproles would be great.so would percy harvin as an all-purposeplayer.however,we already established tonight that jedyork is primarily commited yo not spending money.

sorry mike in md,all big checks have the york name on them.i do not kndw why you need to externalize accountability to others.you can be a fan without clinging to some illusion that this is a classy franchise willing to spend to win.

Razoreater, Virus and Truthpeddler -- Declining to spend big in FA is not a lack of committment to winning. FA is an expensive crapshoot. The draft is the basic way to build a winner (per Bill Walsh). As for the uninformed reference to the GM as clueless, take a look at Singletary's comments on who spotted Willis and take a look at who selectively paid well in FA for Clements and Justin Smith. As for drafting a "franchise" QB, take a look at the historical odds of that working and the history of where in the draft the great QB's are found. Anybody who counts themselves as happy that Singletary is in charge gets to play the game of speculating how he will improve the roster and gets to learn as he attempts to do so. After all, he is the Hall of Fame expert whose results to date are excellent and we are amateurs/fans. My guesses are these. Any pass rusher signed will be in the middle because we get decent pressure from the sides but lose control of the QB in the middle. A true NT is also likely. OL improvement will focus on RT. The QB pickup will be both in the middle of the draft and a veteran backup (same way they got Hill -- did the clueless GM do that?) By Safety Singletary means one to replace Roman. The RB will be a Foster or a middle-round rookie (did our stupid GM get us Gore that way?). If there is one or 2 FA's that can solidify a position, they will try to get them (did the clueless GM get us Spikes?). However, my guesses are just guesses because I am not the expert. I'm a fan who gets to enjoy trying to guess on these moves and I shouldn't be so discouraged by the past that I miss the possibility that Jed is different from his dad, that the GM has gotten us some excellent players and that we have a coach with a vision of where he is going for the first time since 1988. We don't know how good these guys will do, but the signs are positive. It will be, once again, fun to see how our amateur predictions turn out. Before we go writing off any of the three pivotal Niner braintrust members, we should remember that we once had a coach/GM who started his second season 2-1, engendering hope in the hearts of all SF fans after back-to-back 2-14 seasons. Then this coach, abandoning accepted principles of offensive play and using a small, weak-armed QB, lousy running backs and slow receivers, lost 8 of his next 9 games. If those who are ready to throw insults at JED and the GM were around then, they would have been calling for this coach's head. That coach was named Bill Walsh.

Well said, drsgrosse. And a bit more truthful than other opinion peddlers.

I think Smiley was allowed to leave because he was not the big mauler that McCloughan wants (Donahue drafted Smiley) and maybe his injury history. What I can't reconcile about Baas is that Singletary has repeatedly preached the importance of continuity on the offensive line (as did Mike Nolan) and he said that he thinks the starting o-line that finished the season is capable of dominating they way Sing wants it to. So either McCloughan fully intends to re-sign Baas, or he's not on board with Singletary.

I heard an interesting comment about NFL being very careful about signing free agents for big money next year. The reason is in 2010 there is no cap, in 2009 there is a cap but no one can re-negotiate current contracts by pushing money into 2010 to free up cap money. There is no allowances for pushing 2009 contracts in 2010. That was the trade-off for accepting no cap.

That means they are stuck with their contracts and limitations. There will be extra cap money for 2009, but teams must be very careful. Teams have been pushing contracts for years.

Matt how about researching this to find out the real scoop?

[[Before we go writing off any of the three pivotal Niner braintrust members, we should remember that we once had a coach/GM who started his second season 2-1, engendering hope in the hearts of all SF fans after back-to-back 2-14 seasons. Then this coach, abandoning accepted principles of offensive play and using a small, weak-armed QB, lousy running backs and slow receivers, lost 8 of his next 9 games. If those who are ready to throw insults at JED and the GM were around then, they would have been calling for this coach's head. That coach was named Bill Walsh.]]

1980. Important to note that we lost those games however, NOT because of our small weak armed QB, or our unheralded receivers, or our anemic ground game. None of that was changed much from the first three games. We lost those games because Dwaine Board got hurt in game 3, and without a strong pass rush, our horrible secondary was exposed to brutal results.

Lesson? It takes both offense and defense. The main changes in building a winner were defensive in 1981. The new DBs, esp. Lott, the signing of Reynolds as a FA, the swindling of San Diego to get Fred Dean.

If we upgrade at free safety, pass rush and perhaps nose tackle, our Defense will be markedly better. Our field position will be better. And therefore our offense will look better with even a moderately competent OC (if we avoid turnovers), and we will win games.

hey drsgrosse,just because i am amere fan doesn/t mean idon/t have astrong grasp of the obvious.anyone who believes you always listen to the experts because they are more brilliant isi unable to think for himself.anyone not retarded by such conformity realizes that the niners cannot address its needs,pressing needs to be as talent-rich as arizona without making a splash in free agency.this is a cheap team that would fire players who have as little commitment to winning as the braintrust in which you believe.

Grosse-- Next time, read more carefully before you lump me in and suggest I said something I didn't.

Further, I also wasn't suggesting that the 49ers build their team through FA. Their 2 biggest needs are OLB and RT, and they need quality starters at both positions. If you can sign a top RT and spend your draft picks elsewhere, why not? The cap is not a concern, and may not even exist in a couple of years.

I am starting the Brian Orkapo draft band wagon. A beast at OLB, rush backer. He would make a HUGE difference in the D and relieve pressure on the secondary. OL in the second round, although Tauscher might be a great value FA for RT . QB in third or forth (Rumor has it Cassel is going to be franchised), then, BPA (RB, DB, etc)

Hi Matt,

Happy New Year to you and ur family. Is Coach Sing planning to start bringing in for interviews this week for the OC position? Keep up the good work?

Nice thought, Jon... but I don't see ANY way that Orakpo lasts to number 10. Most mock drafts have him being taken from 4 to 9.

If you want impact defense, two guys intrigue me and should be there when we pick. Taylor Mays is a very good safety and god knows we can use an upgrade over Roman. He can run, he is huge for a safety at 230, and he hits like a LB. Shades of Ronnie.

The other guy who is getting talked up on the boards is Everette Brown. Very good instinctive pass rusher who most mock drafts have in the 10 to 15 range.

A real solid guy who won't have as good stats but could be just as valuable to a team is B.J. Raji, the big NT. He is clearly the best inside DL in this draft.

The top two OTs are Monroe and Oher. If either is there I would grab them. I doubt they will last. Andre Smith is intriguing but has had some off the field issues. Jason Smith is good, converted TE, maybe a little better than Staley but I'm leaning defense in that case.

Second round, there is a small chance that Phil Loadholt will still be there at 42. He is a classic power blocking right tackle type from Oklahoma, 6-7, 360.

Defensively, Larry English of Northern Illinois is about the same size and had 29 career sacks. Other second round defensive guys include Patrick Chung, SS, Oregon (5-11, 210 with good range and plays the ball in the air well but can he adjust to playing free safety?) and Mike Mickens of Cincinnati (CB, 6-0). Peria Jerry, Ole Miss, NT, 6-2, 305, isn't quite as good as Raji but can clog the middle and push the pocket. If QB Nate Davis is still there we might just grab him and see what we have a year or two down the line. If teams shy away from Duke Robinson (G, Oklahoma, 6-4, 335) he is worth a look too. Russell Okung of Oklahoma State (6-5, 300) could be a fallback at right tackle; he isn't quite as highly rated as Loadholt but still could come in and start by the end of his first year (like Rachal).

Graham Harrell is an intriguing possibility in round 3 if we don't go for Davis. Even more than Davis, he will need time to learn, but he was accurate in college and with the right coaching might develop into a good pro QB, "system" labels aside. Rashad Johnson of Alabama (S, 6-0, 190, 4.4) is also a guy to keep an eye on if he lasts this long. Clay Mathews (yeah, the son of that Clay Mathews and grandson of the Niners' Clay Mathews back in the 50s) is 6-4, 252 and the sentimental pick from USC, would be worth a look there (4.5 sacks this year). Alex Boone of Ohio State is another right tackle prospect here. Dorell Scott of Clemson is the best NT prospect at this level. He is 6-4, 313. A running back possibility is Rashad Jennings from Liberty. 6-1, 232 and 1500 yards, 17 TDs for a tiny college team and 4.46 speed. At WR, Derrick Williams, Penn State is blazing fast (4.39) with good size (6-0, 200) and can return kicks.

4th round possibilities: Zach Follett, California, OLB, 6-2, 235, 7.5 sacks this year. Might contribute on ST until he learns the tricks of NFL pass rushing. Ron Brace, Boston College, NT, 6-3, 330, is Raji's teammate who isn't at his level but could be a good pro NT nonetheless. Arian Foster, Tennessee, RB, 6-1, 217, was most of his team's offense this year with 4.4 a carry even though teams were putting 9 guys in the box on him. He is clocked at 4.49 with plenty of power. James Davis of Clemson had a 4.6 average in similar circumstances, he's 5-11, 214, 4.45. At WR Marko Mitchell of Nevada is big (6-3, 210) and fairly fast (4.45) but does he fill a major need this year?

5th round: Brannan Southerland, Georgia, FB, 6-0, 240, blocks like a tank but with more attitude.

6th round: Anthony Heygood, Purdue, OLB, 6-2, 230, 4.6ish time in the 40. A good athlete who is still learning to play LB after starting out at RB. Can earn his keep on ST until or unless he develops.

Longshot 7th round QB pick: Chase Holbrook, New Mexico State. Another system guy but 6-5, 235, 67.6% completions this year with 25 TDs and 14 INTs. Would need two years minimum to sit on the bench and even then its a 1 in 20 shot, but it IS the 7th round.

Whatever the order, it would be nice to come out of the draft and free agency with a new free safety, a new right tackle, a bigger two-gapping NT, a couple of pass rush prospects, a couple of fullback types, another RB candidate, and a QB prospect. Thats nine guys... LOL, I'm not greedy. Realistically, some of those holes will probably be only partially filled this year and will need to be readdressed in 2010.

if we can grab an experienced RT in FA - good.....Everette Brown will take care of the pass rush........the safety position is a tough one, we need a miracle....(ED REED is the best safety - nfl player in the NFL)

Virus -- my apologies. I had scribbled a bunch of notes on a post-it as I read the comments and must have gotten your name too close to the others. You made good and original sense. Sorry.

Jon SoCal - you probably already heard but the latest on Shanahan is that he says he will take the next couple weeks off to decide what he's going to do. He said unless there's "a perfect situation" out there he'd rather sit out the year & return in 2010.

I could have sworn I heard from the news a few days ago that he decided he wanted to be a HC again this year after he got fired. Sorry for the bad info.

Hey Grumpy, you seem to be having as much fun playing Jr GM as I do?
Nice collection of possible additions.
Living here in the shadows of Rutgers U, a guy who might be worth a tryout as an UFA or late round pick is (QB) Mike Teel.
He's nothing flashy, he's just dependable, (though I really would like Sanchez from USC), but he's gonna cost a much higher pick.
Love Loadholt to move from LT to RT and RG Duke Robinson is my mauler to replace Baas.
I see a heavy need for LBs and, NT is the most compelling. High pick like Raji, or go DE/OLB at 10?
You know I'd move Nate to FS in a heartbeat so, perhaps adding another CB would make some sense too.
All in all, good stuff, we dance to pretty much the same tune, strong up the middle, build the lines.
Saw Suggs today and I'm drooling to add him at OLB. He could then allow a NT pick higher too?
He, Spikes and Patrick and rookie or 2? OMG!

Mike I also saw Billick getting tapped for some HC vacancies too? Too bad.
Still would like to see him working with Sing as OC, but we'll see?
Not completely sold on Linehan, but he seems to be a pretty decent option to consider.
Watching that Ravens D today has me thinking how close we are to getting the NFC West crown with a few more pieces.
Put Suggs or a similar talent on the edge and clog up the middle like they do and we're almost there.

My mistake, Duke Robinson is OLG, not RG.

my 2 free agent signings would be Suggs and Cris Canty

so on another note, cassel got franchised. what are the chances that brady is going to get released? the patriots don't seem to have any problems letting stud players go (ie. asante samuels) how much would you be willing to give up to get brady?

If they release Brady he's basically a FA and costs us nothing.
Not a bad way to go, except that NE takes a mighty nasty cap hit. Can't see that happening?
Nice problem to consider, like McNabb, an experienced guy for a year or 2 would be a real problem solver.
I'm still OK with Alex hanging around if his price tag is downgraded to a manageable level.
We'll all agree he isn't a franchise pick, but he's young and intelligent enough to learn.

I would give the niners 3rd and 4th pick this year for Brady. Then I would give them incentive picks similar to what the jets gave for Favre. 4th in 2010 if he starts every game, 3rd if the niners get to the playoffs, 2nd for Super Bowl appearence, 1st if they win the super bowl. Let's be honest, if you put Brady on any team in the NFL, they are automatically a playoff team.

Yes, even the Raiders, Lions, Bengals, Rams, Niners and Seahawks

Matt what do you know of the teams' feelings on Jay Moore?
Do we see him as a viable replacement to TBC at OLB/DE or just another Nolan draftee that can't pass muster?

Marc - haven't given a whole lot of thought on the OC. I trust Singletary will find his guy. I would like to see a proven one who's confident & knows what he's doing who has a good track record. Our guys have been through enough to have to experience another Rookie who's not sure about what he's doing. This is a critical hire that we can't afford to screw up. Linehan seems to fit. I don't know much about Billick. I have a hard time understanding why when these solid OC's became HC they let that side of the ball they were experts on go down. If these types can pull a Cam Cameron type turnaround that would be great. I guess if you don't have the personality or leadership skills to be an effective HC both sides of the ball suffer? There's a list of these types that went back to OC & did well so that's a good sign. (Cameron + Norv & Martz with us, etc. I think Al Saunders was a HC one time)

I hear you Mike. Billick was a prolific OC in MN when he had Culpepper and Moss & Co and he employed Sing and Nolan in Baltimore so I feel there's a comfort level there for Sing to trust in.
Obviously, with the vacancies out there now, Billick appears to drawing interest.
If by chance he's passed over and he really wants to get in the game again, I'd love to have him as an OC.
Time will tell, looks like this week should give us an answer according to Matts' newest thread.

If the Raiders hire a new HC will he be allowed to bring in his own assistants? If so we should go after Rathman ASAP for our RB's Coach opening. I know it's a lateral move for him but he should be where he wants to be coming back to his team & he would be in a position to move up to OC in the future hopefully not until 3-4 years if our new OC succeeds.

I would also love to go after Cable as the OL Coach. This man KNOWS OL & has an impressive resume here. Do we stay with Foerster & keep continuity or try & upgrade? The other thing to consider is how long would we have Cable if we hired him? He's had a taste of being a HC & probably would want to be one again soon if he's let go. I don't get that vibe with Foerster so we might be better off staying with what we have. Sure Coach Sing will make the right decisions.

On FA's EJames is not happy in AZ & already said he wants out of there. I think he would be ideal next to Frank. Edge had high mileage, low mileage this year, & sharing the workload with Frank should be just right. Also bringing back Oakland again, what about Vargas? If they're happy with just 2 backs we could try & snag him if he's still any good & has some mileage left. He split time with McFadden before he got hurt & Bush so he's not all that worn from last year. Of course only if the price is right for 1 of these 2.

Don't know Vargas' contract situation. Maybe a trade if his contracts not over? The guy who's a fan fav but really has no real position but ST's is Robinson. Don't get me wrong I love the guys heart & physical play but in reality doesn't have a position. What is he a RB, FB? Singletary's gonna want a legit 2nd workhorse RB & I would try & get a change of pace FAST explosive Sproles type scat back down the line too. Do a lot of teams keep a guy around just for ST's? If we have the room yes we keep him. If not would Oakland be interested? What Robinson has is he's young, physical & is making progress as a RB. He can be a playmaker on Offense. So is it possible to trade him for an aging Vargas? We might have to throw someone/something else (low draft pick) to sweeten the pot if we think Vargas is worth it.

Another possible trading partner is New Orleans. Bush gets injured a lot & a creative guy like Sean Peyton should be always looking for playmakers. He can work Robinson into some plays. Mix him in with blocking assignments, running, & getting him some passes. Do they have anyone worth going after?

Just throwing out some ideas.

Sanchez and Stafford are playing a game of chicken right now... if Stafford declares, Sanchez will stay put for his senior season. Both want the top 5 pick big bucks.

I'm inclined to guess that Sanchez will remain and some other team can gamble on the streaky Stafford. Just hope that he doesn't fall in the niners lap at #10.

I don't know about Stafford. He's the most NFL ready playing in a Pro Offense vs legit SEC competition. Prototype build & good arm. Heard he doesn't have that good of an OL or WR's but had Moreno to ease the pressure. I've seen him more than a few times just miss easy short throws & he just looks so "off" sometimes. Just real hard to get a prediction, accurate feel for the guy.

I like Sanchez better & hope he stays. Not a top 5 pick to me though. Not yet anyways. We're better off to go after a top tier QB next year if our mid-round prospect we hope to get doesn't pan out. Fill the other glaring holes first from the inside-out plus playmakers with the pass rush & free safety. Also Bradford could be in the mix next year. I've never seen such an accurate a QB as Bradford. His stats are ridiculous & amazing.