***Includes updates on the contract numbers, as well as a new deal for Jeff Ulbrich that suggests the likelihood he figures into the team's plan for this season.***
Niners chief negotiator Paraag Marathe is not waiting around for the team's draft picks to be slotted.
The 49ers today announced the signings of linebacker Scott McKillop and defensive end Ricky Jean-Francois to four-year contracts.
McKillop and Jean-Francois join Lions quarterback and No. 1 overall pick Matthew Stafford as the first 2009 draft picks to sign contracts.
McKillop was a fifth-round pick from Pitt, while Jean-Francois is a seventh-rounder from LSU. The 49ers have signed all their picks to at least four-year contracts in the past four years. The last time they had a rookie not signed by the first day of training camp was 2002 (Mike Rumph).
"It says a lot about these young men that they have made it a priority to get their contract negotiations out of the way early," 49ers GM Scot McCloughan said in a statement. "Now they have the ability to focus solely on helping to make this team better and starting their professional careers off on the right foot. The cooperation we received from their agents was tremendous."
Both players are represented by Athletes First, an agency based in
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UPDATES: McKillop's deal includes a signing bonus of $192,250, while Jean-Francois' bonus is $43,000. Those represent just less than 4-percent increases over what players chosen in those slots received last year.
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Linebacker Jeff Ulbrich apparently solidified his future with the team this offseason when he accepted a pay reduction from $2.23 million to $950,000. Ulbrich agreed to the new deal, which comes in the final year of his contract, before the club selected McKillop in the draft.
Ulbrich has played nine seasons with the 49ers. Ulbrich made $1.875 million last season. He started the first three games of the season before Takeo Spikes entered the starting lineup at inside linebacker. The club re-signed Spikes as a free agent.
But the 49ers clearly want to keep Ulbrich around as a special-teams ace and backup inside linebacker.
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This is sweet!
Way to get things done McC.
MM - Thanks for the updates. One of these days you will get a vacation. I hope you are at least finding the time to clock some long miles in your running shoes!!!!
Good move. Both players have the talent to play in the NFL. Now it is up to them to go prove it in the weight room, on the practice field, and in training camp.
Jean-Francois is going to have the best 49ers jersey name by far this year. Imagine being sacked by a man after a 3 step drop back, getting your face slammed into the ground, then getting up, looking around for the guy who hit you, and all you see is... "Jean-Francois". It'd be like "Who in the hell is Jean... whatever. Protect me better next time."
Awesome news! Thanks Matt. To all of the Scot McCloughan haters: All you need to do is look at how successfully this man took us out of "Salary Cap Hell" and well a job he has done with all of the signings over the last 4 years. Nuff said!
Heck yeah! Don't wait for the market to set, set the market yourself! Go 49ers!
Ima, I agree with your general sentiment, but Scott has a lot yet to prove. First, can he put together a team that can get to the playoffs? Can he fill the QB spot with a guy who can win the big games. So, not nearly enough done or said yet. But its nice to think we are in the early chapters of a successful story.
This is all Parag. Great job. I hope they put some character stuff in on rjf Taylor and Boone. Matt what happens when a player gets hurt during a minicamp before signing a contract? Does the team pay for rehab/surgery?
Question: Matt what happens when a player gets hurt during a minicamp before signing a contract? Does the team pay for rehab/surgery?
My response: The team accepts all liability. --Matt M.
Jean-Francois....still think he is going to the PS? This years draft could be a very very good draft. Maybe a 1986 type draft.
Matt,
Do you think the 2 CB-S conversion projects (Williams and RSmith) result more from a concern with their coverage skills, or the team's lack of depth at safety?
Question: Do you think the 2 CB-S conversion projects (Williams and RSmith) result more from a concern with their coverage skills, or the team's lack of depth at safety?
My response: I'm going with the former. Cornerbacks are hot commodities. If a guy can play cornerback, you keep him there regardless of what you have at the safety position. Williams' only shot is at safety, so I would not consider that a conversion project. They wanted to take a long look at Smith at cornerback. That's where they had him as a rookie. They might revisit that in the future, but right now safety looks like the best fit. --Matt M.
Beautious Maximus Baby!
With the Draft selections made under Nolan and the slow arrival of Jason Hil, David Baas and others I think we owe it to Scot and Sing to see if the progression curve improves.
Nolan went about things in a 'Safe-Mode' while Sing seems to be taking a no-nonsense aggressive approach.
Chilo was evidence of the, show me what you've got mentality that Sing seems to favor.
We've acquired a glut of WRs, a nice group of younger DBs and may have the makings of a decent QB battle.
It's a slower then expected turn around when you discuss the Dynasty Era, but Jed is at least providing the ineterest Uncle Eddie did and seems to have an idea about where he wants to see this franchise driven.
Given the Dr York/Denise DeBartolo babysitting service, I applaud the Boy King for stepping out of the shadows and being involved in a positive way.
The DeBartolo/Walsh turnaround didn't happen overnight either. It took 3 years to respectability. Who knows if the present rebuild will come to fruition, but so far it seems to be headed in the right direction. A question for those of you old enough to remember. Was Eddie D. that much involved the first couple of years? I do remember him firing Thomas as GM and turning pretty much the entire operation over to Walsh. Thomas had a great rep as a talent man, in Baltimore I think, but was a complete flop here. Of course, it was easier to build a team then, if you were willing to spend the money. The salary cap keeps a team from repairing their draft errors with free agent signings. Also it was easier to keep your Super Bowl teams together without a cap. Win the Super Bowl and all of your players want and deserve pay hikes, putting your projected payroll over the cap, necessitating decisions. New England is about the only team that has been able to overcome this problem. How do they do it? By following one of Walsh's key roster philosophies: better to get rid of a guy one year early than one year late.
Signing late picks is not that difficult.
oldgiantfan that is the reason for all our debate it seems.
Old School guys like ourselves who recall the generosity and involvement of Eddie D and the post Cap Era, the shackles of Cap Hell, the loss of Eddie and the ensuing tailspin under the Yorks.
I am a firm believer in the Walsh motto as well. A guy has a shelf life, don't think Scot isn't putting Coffee on the roster now for any other reason then to insure the future.
Seattle waited too long with Alexander.
We needed Jed if for no other reason then to just be involved on a daily basis. Dr John didn't take the job by choice, his B-I-Law Eddie wanted it kept in the family.
Flip that coin -
Denise or Dr John?
Jed by Default!
I could be wrong but I think Thomas came over from Miami. He was one of the guys who put together Miami's great teams in the early 70's.
As much as I love Walsh, he did make mistakes as well. I think Walsh personally picked Donahue as his successor. Of course, his unbelievable success on the field and in the talent evaluation department allowed him to miss every now and then without much criticism.
McCloughan hasn't been able to pick a QB that can win. IMHO McC has built a very good roster with the exception of the QB spot. The 9ers would have been a playoff team the past 2 years with even a consistently average QB starting the entire season. If any of the QBs on the roster step up and play well, this team can make a good playoff run. Of course, McC will need to address OL and pass rush to be a Superbowl contender. It still all starts with the QB spot.
oldgiant,
To answer your other question about Eddie D's involvement the only impact move he made was to fire Thomas & roll the dice on Walsh. Eddie always said that he just had a "gut feeling" about Walsh after their first meeting before hiring him. What Eddie was great at was he knew he had no clue or experience on the football side of things BUT he could make up for it with $$$$. He always told Walsh "just tell me anything you need ($-player wise) & we'll get him". That's what made Eddie so great he didn't want to be the "Show" like Jerry Jones or Snyder. He knew what his strength was & the was his carisma to lure FA's & a fat wallet! Ya gotta love Eddie D.!
Very well said RK,our assessment is right on!
For all those who thought Andre Smith was a good pick except for a few "red flags"', just fired his agent...the second agent.
McC has had 1 shot to pick a franchise QB and it really hasn't worked out. It puts him a pretty select category of pretty much every other GM who is in charge of weak teams. In fact there are plenty of other GM's that have taken multiple shots at it. The QB position is the most difficult position to project and select, particularly with college teams going to the spread. Most teams are looking for "game management" types to ease the transition and lessen the risk. All in all, he's a decent GM
Mike Rumph. Now there's a name I thought I had successfully wiped from my meory banks. Good grief.
Just thought you'd like to know our beloved General Joe Montana will be coaching his sons' highschool football team. Living here in South Bend I can tell you that the word around town here is that the powers that be are recruiting General Montanas' son very, very heavily. I prey he comes here because we need a pedigree such as his to reignite the legends of lore at the position here at Notre Dame.
Razoreater - Notre Dame was my college football team since I can remember. After Lou Holtz left something happened to that program. I married a USC Trojan and I think Pete Carroll is the perfect college football coach. I love the guy. I would rather see the kid go to USC, then he will have a legit chance of making it to the NFL. However, I don't think Joe will let the boy attend his godfathers (Ronnie Lott) University.
What I do know about this kid http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/arash_markazi/05/12/montana.0512/ is he and his brother both got the stones to ruin a Cowboys fan day on any Sunday!!
Thanks - I hadn't seen that.
“We have a policy where we don't want fathers coaching their kids,” Redell said. “But we made an exception. So the new rule is, if you’ve been a three-time Super Bowl MVP, you can come out and coach your kid.”
Any 49er Hall of Fame without Eddie D. isn't worth two cents! The man was THEEE GUY who over saw the GREATEST ERA in 49er history. I don't care about his antics off the field. He was the guy that brought the coaches and players needed to win and took great care of them in a time when owners could make their own choices without caps to bring about a winner. Eddie D. chose to make a winner out of a franchise in disarray!
The 49er Hall of Fame without Eddie isn't really a Hall of Fame at all!
Any 49er Hall of Fame without Eddie D. isn't worth two cents! The man was THEEE GUY who over saw the GREATEST ERA in 49er history. I don't care about his antics off the field. He was the guy that brought the coaches and players needed to win and took great care of them in a time when owners could make their own choices without caps to bring about a winner. Eddie D. chose to make a winner out of a franchise in disarray!
The 49er Hall of Fame without Eddie isn't really a Hall of Fame at all!
In the great Niner tradition of relentless RB's of past (Craig, Rathman, Watters, Yours Truly to name a few), we should continue with that tradtion and make sure we sign Sheets and Coffee to bring a nasty 3 headed monster to our backfield to help out the Stud Frank Gore. Coffee is a power runner with good size...reminds me of Roger and Sheets can be a very explozive, change of pace / wildcat / receiving all purpose RB to help keep Defenses on their toes and off balance. Keep Clayton on the PS and let Robinson keep his role as a solid Special Teams player and possible wildcat QB / RB. Norris can round up the 5th RB roster spot as we need his services as bruising FB as well as a very good receiving back - especially for his size.
Houston, I think you're right. I think he was at Baltimore before Miami, but not as GM. Director of Personnel or whatever they called it back then. In any event, things didn't go as well here!
Also, Jon in SC, was McCloughan GM when they drafted Smith? I thought last year was his first year. IMO Smith was the choice of Nolan.
Matt,
Could you give us a thumbnail sketch of McCloughan's career? As one of the oldtimers on this blog, I remember clearly the teams of my youth, but get a little fuzzy when discussing the near past. I'm interested in his career as his dad, Kent, was one of my alltime favorites as a player.
The HoF is named after Eddie Sr so they can induct Eddie Jr. It would be bad form to be in your own HoF!
Clayton has no more PS eligibility. He'll either be a roster man or a FA.
Alex Smith is now a member of the Patriots:
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/football/patriots/view.bg?articleid=1172428&srvc=sports&position=3
Ender,
That's the other Alex Smith the TE that the Bucs drafted originally.
Sorry to get everybody's hopes up with my post that referred to the Patriots having signed Alex Smith. Unfortunately, they signed the quality Alex Smith (the tight end), not the bust QB.
He was GM. I don't think any 1 person had the final say regarding Smith. It was a team effort. To be honest, I think that if we had drafted Rodgers, he would have struggled as well. The time he had behind Farve was invaluable.
Matt -the KNBR interview with Ralph was markedly smoother than Coach Singletary's ...you sounded rather chipper- Ralph sounded like he was on some kind of prescription however!
Right on, just listened to Matt on KNBR. Talked niners for a solid 15 min.
http://www.knbr.com/pages/razormrt
LOL! Yea I do not forsee USC in his future although I would not hold it against him as I am not a "Charlie" guy. If Weiss were to fail again this year(which I do not anticipate due to schedule) I would think "Chuckie" would be high on the radar which I would prefer as I think he fits the Dr. Lou shoes much better.
BallGame,
Just heard the interview with Matt... is it me or does Ralph the Mouth have a woody for Parag? I mean even when Parag does his job well (signing 2 draft picks) he still gets stepped on. Ralph is an idiot!
Although, I'm a Univ of Arizona grad, I have been a Notre Dame fan since I was a kid. ..I'd love to see Urban Meyer be the next head coach at ND. Meyer has even stated such that Notre Dame is his first love.
Yep,these things that were written above are indeed true...
-Paarag has done a fine job at everything he does since he first walked through the doors in the Santa Clara Facility. (according to every boss he has ever had with the Niners).
-Scott has only been GM for 1 year and we will never know what would have been if he were GM BEFORE Nolan was here and had the trigger, instead of Nolan.Nolan was Scott's boss ,Scott worked for Nolan.That much we KNOW. Now,Scott is the boss and only reports to Jed. Now we can judge Scott's performance without wondering who really made this decision or that decision etc.
-And yes ,Ralph Barbieri is an ignorant idiot,lol.
I remember listening to Ralph back when he didnt really even know what Parag's purpose was in the organization. Ralph seeks out situations where he can bad mouth someone and sound cool/smart.
I would love to see ownership/management find an offensive mind to be a part of the organization for years to come. That’s a tall order, but I would commit mass resources to finding that type of a person.
That's great news about Ulbrich. The dude is the definition of a team player.
Kudos to Paraag as well for staying aggressive and getting these kids signed ;)
There is no chance that Montana goes to U$C
The latest from Rivals
http://rivals100.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=84137&sport=1
I have a very low opinion of Barbieri. He uses his show to bully people and advance hsi point of view. The Sharks choked again but he's so eanmored with them he has lost all his objectivity. I am tired of hearing his tinny Go Sharks.
Singletary does not come on his show to be badgered and confess to Ralph what happened with Kurt Warner. Why should Singletary reveal
who was in the room in the negotiations? It didn't happem, and has no bearing on the 9ers future plans so move on.
What does that article say? Is it your wish and your crossing your Longhorn Fingers or are you absolutely sure that he won't? I didn't log into the webpage. I root against the Longhorns like a root against the Cowboys, so I can't trust anything somebody from Texas says about anything that has to do with the 49ers or their offspring.
Hi Matt, I think that Jean-Francois has a real shot. If the offense can hold the ball for extended periods the defense will become upper half. Matt, why not bring in Joe or Steve to mentor the QBs for training camp. With Rathman back are we seeing the door opening for past stars injecting the winning attitude by their presence.
Johnny
I take exception to your post.
How narrow minded can you be? In fact are you for real? I have been a 9er fan all my life.
I went to school at UT and graduated from there but I have always been a 49er Faithful.
However I bleed burnt orange and I don't mind the fact you root against the Horns.
There is no correlation on where you go to college and the Pro football team you root for.
So why generalize and think all Texas-exes are Cowboy fans? Are all Notre Dame supporters Chicao Bears fans?? Use your head.
You mention you're an Irish fan. Did you ever go to school there or you just decided to hop on their bandwagon??
Anyway sorry that Notre Dame has been such sorry losers and pathetic for over a decade and counting. Also tell your wife Texas was happy to beat her Trojans in 2005 for the national Championship. Hook'em!!!
Johnny
AS for you comment that the Horns want Montana. the answer is no. He came to Austin with Joe but wasn't offered. Horns already have 2 QB commitments for 2010. Connor Wood
the top ranked QB in the state and Case McCoy, Colt McCoy's younger brother. This fall QB Garrett Gilbert enrolls. He's the son of Gale Gilbert who started at QB for Cal in the 80's. Garrett Gilbert also is ranked among the Top 2 QBs in the country.
The Longhorn QB situation is solid for the next 5 years ands we'll be in the running for the BCS and National Championship.
Don't be suprised if in the next draft the 9ers take a hard look at Colt McCoy or Jevean Snead of Ole Miss who was signed by Texas and transferred when McCoy won the starting QB job.
Point #2. Reggie Bush and the payoffs he received while at U$C (his parents were provided a new house by an agent) is still being investigated by the NCAA. Last week it was revealed there is evidence that Tim Floyd U$C basketball coach made cash payouts to OJ Mayo's
agent. If both these charges prove to be true
will U$C get the NCAA "death penalty" for these violations? Stay tuned. Hook'em!!!
MYOPIC -
1. : a lack of foresight or discernment : a narrow view of something
2. : see John from HB Cali
That is Beautiful!! Digi Hi Five!! Good ones!! LMAO!!!
Good stuff. Texas and ND both suck in my world
Tarell Brown was a Longhorn.. rooting for him big time!!!
Matt, can you please write something on impact of cap going up $12 millions on 49ers? Negtively or positively?
Matt,
Your boy Barrows is reporting that Eddie D will be inducted in the new 49er HOF. Another good move by the kid (Jed)
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/49ers/archives/022376.html
Just in case you happened to miss it but Montanas' other son, Nate, is already going to ND so I dont think Nick Montana going to ND will make a big difference. Most likely you have Claussen for 2 years and then after that Dayne Christ will step in for another 2 years, so unless Nick Montana plans on going the 5th year senior road its unlikely he will ever be a big player on the team.
But what that has to do with the 49ers, I dont know.
.....he will never be a big time QB....that's what they said about Joe Montana "The Greatest QB to have ever played the game!!!" In my humble opinion! With Johnny U a close second.
Enough stalking Montana's offspring. They haven't even put on a jock strap for a collegiate game.
Curious to hear from you, a dedicated Longhorn fan, your prognosis on Colt McCoy next season and his future in the NFL.
He reminds me of Stan Humphries during his heyday. A dependable quarterback who doesn't make alot of mental errors, but not your prototypical arm for the position. A first round pick?
Good news. We signed Taylor and waived Williams
Franchise
McCoy has been operating out of the shotgun
since Benson left Texas. There is talk they will run some I formation this year which will help mcCoy with playaction and his drops.
The thing about McCoy alst year is he put on about 15 lbs of muscle and he is a very strong runner. He sees the entire field and has a NFL arm.
For obvious reasons I favor McCoy over Bradford. We'll see what Bradford is made of this year because he lost 80% of his OL. Hard to say where McCoy will be drafted but I was shocked that Josh Freeman was a 1st rounder being the 6th best QB in the Big 12. He was drafted definitely for his potential.
Should be an interesting Heisman Race between McCoy, Bradford and Tebow.