Call me crazy, but when you're under investigation for tampering in the free agent market, does it make sense for rumors to be flying that you're already working on a deal with Justin Smith?  To quote Matt Maiocco "are the 49ers so arrogant to tamper with one player while there are charges that they tampered with another?"

As much as I would enjoy seeing Justin Smith on the 49ers defensive line, I'd also prefer to not lose draft picks because we decided to jump the gun and get a deal done.  One interesting take that makes all the sense in the world was over at Pro Football Talk where they mentioned, "Then again, it could be that their agents are merely trying to drive up interest by spreading the word that a deal is done."

Mike Nolan and Scot McCloughan are not idiots (I think).  Could they really be that insanely stupid?  That is not a rhetorical question.  Personally, I agree with the PFT take that this is a way for agents to artificially drive up the interest in a guy like Smith.  Of course, considering the talent he brings to the table, I really don't see the need to artificially inflate it.  Smith will get his money somewhere and even our own Cincy Jungle has been resigned to that fact since the Bengals franchised Stacy Andrews.

Anyways, what does everybody else think?  I think this is more bluster than anything else, but I've been wrong before.