NFL Free Agency gets going in approximately six weeks. Until then, teams will have an exclusive negotiating window to get deals done. The 49ers have plenty of their own free agents to consider before they move on to consider outside options in free agency and the draft.

When Coach Harbaugh wrapped up the season at his press conference on Monday, he twice mentioned how players had built up equity with the team. He was asked first about the idea of players coming off this great year but still ending up somewhere else:

You've talked throughout the year you like this team. Obviously there's going to be turnover. How difficult is that going to be when that process comes to see some of the guys who were contributors on this team go other places?

"Well, I think a couple things there. If a player could just make significantly more money going to another team than we would be willing or able to pay them, then I would be happy for those players. But, we're going to compete. We're going to compete for the guys that played 16 games, who were consummate team guys. That's what I've told them and that's what we'll do. The grass isn't always greener. And our players have built up a lot of equity here. With me, with our coaches, with our organization and then people, they're going to make the best decisions for their family, themselves, and that'll be life happening. But, hopefully they've enjoyed their season here and being a part of this team, and we'll see how it shakes out."

He was later asked about how much better he feels he knows the team as compared to last offseason:

How much better positioned are you this offseason to evaluate your team based on that you coached them all year, as opposed to last year, you came in and probably had to study the tape. How much more confident do you feel knowing the team?

"Significantly, and that's obvious. Do I know them? Yeah, I'm around them every day. Significantly more. There's equity built up in that."

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Late yesterday, Don Banks of SI.com joined the growing ranks of media posting their first mock drafts of the 2012 draft season. Banks went through the first round and has the San Francisco 49ers selecting Baylor WR Kendall Wright. I haven't put together our mock draft database yet (that'll happen this weekend), but wide receiver is striking me as the most popular position of choice for the 49ers.

While poking around some mock drafts, it seems like it would be a bit of a surprise at this point if Wright fell to the 49ers at No. 30. Much can and will change between now and April, but for now Wright is mocking out a bit more in the 17-26 range. That would seem to be within any margin of error for a mock draft. Of course, when you're talking about the back end of the first round, the margin of error grows dramatically as compared to the top of the draft.

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Look, I care an awful lot about strangers thinking I'm cool, and since everyone seems to be talking about Peyton Manning and his feasibility in San Francisco, I'm obviously eager to jump on the bandwagon and be cool, too. There are reports coming out saying that Manning is done in Indianapolis, but it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to see that he was on his way out, regardless. As per Indy housecleaning, they're getting rid of everything including the kitchen sink.

I don't know about you guys, but it really seems to me like the 49ers already have a kitchen sink. Manning being gone almost seems like an afterthought given the casualties in that building right now, and I should know, because I've been on the Indiana newsdesk writing about this stuff since it began. Sure, I'm not an expert with the inside slant, but it was glaringly obvious some time ago that Manning was on his way out.

You need a kitchen sink. The Colts, with their high-flying and precise offense needing Manning to be that sink. The 49ers have one in Frank Gore. They're not a high-flying team and they don't need to make a move for him. Sure, San Francisco needs to be energized offensively, but that's more something they should address by bringing in, say, a wide receiver. Manning throwing to Michael Crabtree and Josh Morgan doesn't excite me all that much, even given the fact that Manning has been able to turn seemingly bad receivers into Pro Bowlers.

It's all about risk vs. reward, in more ways than one. Not only would the 49ers have to commit a lot of money to Manning due to the other teams involved, but they'd also need to commit more money to him before we even know if he's healthy, given the fact that such a clearance isn't likely to be granted until near the start of next season.

Even if he is cleared to play, Manning's neck is held together by office tape and rubber bands, or as the Bay Area Sports Guy put it (much better, I might add), his neck is made out of recycled pieces of Mark DeRosa's wrist and Steph Curry's ankle. Why in the world would you want to take this young and talented team, give them a quarterback who is basically ancient after having multiple neck surgeries, and potentially set them back?

If you don't think Alex Smith is the answer, that's fine. The 49ers would be much better off trying to roll with a green Colin Kaepernick or, really, someone else as opposed to Manning. It's just not something they should pursue, in my opinion. What are your thoughts?

Yesterday afternoon I wondered over to 49ers.com to check out something on the 49ers roster and noticed they had switched everybody over to the active roster. They no longer list players on the practice squad or on injured reserve. Rather, every player is listed as active. This includes all potential free agents, who technically remain under a sort of team control until the start of the new year.

Once free agency and the draft happen, we spend much of the offseason breaking down the roster and trying to figure out various permutations of the 53-man roster and the practice squad. Given the quantity of 49ers free agents this year, I thought I'd put together the current depth chart based on the existing roster, minus all impending free agents. The only exceptions are Tramaine Brock and Will Tukuafu. They are listed as exclusive rights free agents which means they have to sign the contract the 49ers give them or sit out of the NFL.

Some of the recent Future/Reserve contract guys are listed at tackle or linebacker or safety, and I just sort of slotted them in somewhere. While several of the names after the jump will not make the final 53-man roster in seven months, there are some intriguing talents that could make for some intriguing training camp battles. WR Dontavia Bogan and CB Curtis Holcomb are both extremely intriguing coming off season-ending injuries in 2011. Both have been rehabbing all season long and just based off their comments on twitter, they are already pumped for training camp.

Of course, with this kind of breakdown, for some of these guys it reminds me of a classic scene from Major League (not the best quality).

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2012 Senior Bowl practices come to a close today with the game set to kick off tomorrow afternoon at 1:00pm PT. One player having a stand-out week is wide receiver Marvin Jones. The Cal product put together a solid career with the Bears in spite of having some inconsistent quarterbacks throwing to him (sorry Kevin Riley fans).

Alfie Crow of Big Cat Country continued his in-person rundown of practices and had a few comments about Jones' Wednesday performance:

Jones continues to beat press coverage and drive defenders off in his cuts. He doesn't seem to waste any movement in his routes either and seems to catch everything. Jones also gives maximum effort on every play and held his own in run blocking drills.

Analyst Matt Waldman had more extensive thoughts about Jones that were quite effusive in complimenting the receiver. Waldman indicated Jones excelled in just about every aspect of the Wednesday's practice. He described Jones as a light-footed runner with strong change of direction and extremely sound technique, with great willingness and intensity in run-blocking. Waldman compared Jones' potential to that of a Donald Driver. You can read an interview Waldman conducted with Jones this week. It includes some really interesting material.

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One thing that has struck me the most about the team following the loss to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship was the way they handled themselves. Some people accused Michael Crabtree of reverting back to "diva" mode, but other than that, we had some very tough guys saying some really inspiring things, and that makes me happy. This team came so far, so fast, and its coach did so much with so little (think offseason) that, near the end, it was like someone whose legs are moving faster than the rest of 'em. It's easy to look back and be discouraged, but just about every one of them has acted like an inspirational leader and I love that. I feel good about this team. Onto the linkage.

Cosell clarifies (PressDemocrat.com)

Steve Young: 49ers' response to loss bodes well for future (SFGate.com)

Smith Confident He'll Return As 49ers Quarterback (NBCBayArea.com)

Manning to 49ers? And other QB strategies (CSNBayArea.com)

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Fooch's Note: I was planning on a front page FanShot of this, but since CalBear949 put together this FanPost, I'll just move this up top. Head after the jump to read a great article about a seven year-old kid sending a letter to Kyle Williams.

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Although the next six months will at times seem to drag on, NN's goal is to at least give you some decent discussion topics. The 49ers will have quite a bit on their plate over the next few months, so for some stretches their will be no shortage of discussion topics.

However, if you are looking to get some entertainment elsewhere, I cannot possibly recommend twitter enough. While the social media outlet is far from perfect, the entertainment value continues to climb. It has become a key source for breaking news with all the major media players tweeting news before they post about it, but the random entertainment value of twitter continues to inspire.

If you are not on Twitter, you are missing out on Donte Whitner's efforts to register for classes at San Jose State. Joe Staley will be at the Pro Bowl this weekend and there will apparently be a twitter-friendly zone for players to shoot out tweets during the game. Normally players cannot tweet immediately before, during or immediately after games, but the NFL is making an exception for the Pro Bowl. Staley is looking for things to tweet about during the game, so feel free to hit him up @jstaley74.

Twitter can be incredibly mindless at times and there are some crazy people out there. However, with the power to pick and choose who you want to follow, I can't recommend it enough. It really is the place to go for breaking news at this point. If you decide to join, you can follow @ninersnation. It tweets out all the posts, but it is also good for re-tweeting rumors and news and engaging in shorter, quick discussion.

Need one more reason to join Twitter? You can follow Jose Canseco's sad but sometimes humorous battle to get back into Major League Baseball. It's not related to the 49ers but it's pretty amusing and sad all at the same time.