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Justin Smith and Nate Clements weren’t big free agents? They made a play for Warner. You do realize that if they made a play for Sanchez they wouldn’t have Crabtree right?

1. We just drafted Crabtree.
2. We have so many WRs.
3. Morgan is a rising star. He is a beast. He needs playing time. He did good even when he was injured.
4. Bruce is starting no matter what. This could be his last season so he will be at least #2.
5. Hill showed some skills at the end of the season. I personally really like him and think he can be really good.
6. We signed Brandon Jones. Why sign him and not have him play at all?
7. The cardinals would ask for soooooooooooooooooo much like 2 1st because they would face him 2 times a year and he is 28 so he doesnt have tooo much time to shine
8. We have other more important needs.
9. 2 1st rounders next year. QB/ whatever other need. I say Taylor Mays. He is a beast.
10. Go 49ers

Longtime reader, first time poster.

I’ll start by saying I respect your viewpoint, Forttyner4life, but I disagree with it and felt compelled to post my own opinions backed with some evidence to make my point since not everyone is familiar with other teams/players, I’ll spare everyone 49ers stats we all know anyways.

The current 49ers draft strategy is an effective one (although I may not agree on all the draftees) and attempts to emulate the Patriots’. The Jet have been bleeding picks and moving around in the first round for years now (1). The Patriots have found considerably more 1st to 3rd round picks by trading down and for the future (2). Since the Patriots are the more successful of the two teams I am glad we’re copycatting them in this regard (apologies to Pats haters, think Ravens if you want they do roughly the same thing) by moving down and trading for future first rounders.

I’ll not dwell on the Sanchez argument since it’s moot at this point; if you’re hung up over it think about two first round picks next year and the plethora of quality QB’s that will be available (3). If Hill can’t win games there will be plenty of options next year most of us will be content with. In fact coming out earlier was one of the smarter things Sanchez did money-wise since he had so little 1st round QB competition.

It’s debatable if we scared off Stafford or not depending on who you believe, regardless the Lions signed him early. There’s talent next year. At the very least Shaun Hill can stop-gap another year. Warner was apparently divinely inspired to remain in Phoenix can’t argue with that (4). I don’t think we ever had a legitimate shot at either of them. Ditto to the Cutler trade. All subjective “attitude issues” aside the Cutler trade would ring of Cowboys deals of years past, and we’ve seen how well those have worked out. That would also conflict with our draft strategy. The Patriots don’t trade for QB’s, they trade them away Matt Cassel style and stockpile picks (5).

We didn’t go after Haynesworth for a variety of reasons: price, fit, health, and attitude (6). If we signed him we’d be destroying our salary cap Terry Donahue style. Or maybe Dan Snyder style (7). A 3-4 defense will generally not pay a lot of money to D-lineman as they’re not supposed to be studs, they merely hold up O-lineman so the linebackers can be studs and make plays. I’m sure a healthy Haynesworth would be a monster D-tackle for the 49ers but after overpaying Justin Smith it wasn’t a sound financial decision. Haynesworth was just the best DT available… compare him to Kevin Williams or Shaun Rogers, he’s not worth the price in my opinion. I really don’t think I need to bother with the TO thing. Getting him back would be roughly equivalent to:
1. Having your girlfriend treat you like trash
2. Having your girlfriend demand a breakup
3. Having your girlfriend do the same to another guy
4. Having your girlfriend do the same to a third guy
5. Having those two guys sympathize with you and all of your friends saying she’s not worth the trouble
6. Dating the girl again expecting her to treat you right.
See the logic? It doesn’t matter how awesome she is at making sammiches for you, it’s not worth the hassle! Not even if they’re lightly toasted sammiches!

Oh, and Boldin wasn’t going to be traded inside the division. The only time a team will do something like that is when they know the player is near worthless to them and they’ll obtain the best value for it (Darrel Jackson for a 3rd rounder? You won that round Seattle). Unless we guaranteed 2 or 3 first rounders for Boldin it wasn’t going to happen and that would screw up the draft board for a long time. Then there’s the whole restructuring a contract with Boldin. Good luck with that.

Just to address the “why can’t we make headlines” comment… well in 2007 and 2008 we were all over the news for the first week or so because of our crazy free agent additions of Nate Clements and Justin Smith. As a general statement though you will rarely see the Patriots, Eagles Steelers, Colts, or Ravens making high profile trades for players or signing free agents to crazy sums of money. These teams have been mainstays of the playoffs and are considered among the better teams in the NFL over the past 5 years. Heck, they make more headlines for who they let go over who they sign. There’s nothing wrong with emulating that as long as we’re doing it right instead of say, how the Bengals approach free agency.

I just wanted to propose an alternate viewpoint to the main post backed by some evidence rather than just my word. I believe the 49ers are on the right track with the draft and free agency and have so far been pleasantly surprised. I’m still not 100% convinced on Crabtree, but I think he was a great pick at #10 based on all the evidence we’ve got at the moment.

This may have been one of our slower offseasons in recent memory but it’s methodical and I’ve had a good vibe about it. I can see why some would consider it a bad offseason but I believe that’s all about getting caught up in the hype of the media and the flashy news rather than hard facts and careful analysis. If I’m going to get worked up over something I disagree with I’ll get worked up enough to research it and see how valid a viewpoint is. I’ve found that this offseason, while dull, emulates the offseasons of some of the better NFL teams. We did not trade up for a QB when next year’s crop appears better and picked up a second first round pick for next year in case one peaks our fancy. I’m happy with the current situation and I hope anyone still reading this has enjoyed some cold numbers and facts to back up some opinions.

Thanks for reading.

As a closing thought: The Steelers have been one of the more boring teams in recent memory when it comes to the draft and the offseason and they’ve managed 2 Superbowl wins in 3 years. The Redskins and Cowboys seem to make the headlines every offseason and have combined for 1 playoff win since 1996.

(1) 23 picks in 4 years, 3 of 4 first rounders obtained through trade, 3 second round picks, 2 third round picks -ESPN

(2) 34 picks in 4 years, 2 of 3 first round picks obtained through trades (remember ours?), 5 second round picks, 3 in the third. -ESPN

(3) Shamelessly promote Florida Danny’s LCF Redux post and statistics. Some QB’s that could have come out this year had the following stats:
Sam Bradford – GS:26 || Comp.%68.6 || TD:86
Colt McCoy – GS: 37 || Comp.% 70.2 || TD: 85
Zac Robinson – GS:26 || Comp.% 61.6 || TD: 48
Yes they’re all in the pass-happy Big12 in gimmick offenses, Bradford is probably the best of the bunch since he has the most pro-style experience, but they’re all over 6’3" and 210 lbs. and can all scramble. They’re all going into their senior years. -Stats from ESPN again, they sure are handy

(4) Barrows or Maiocco have blog posts related to both stories for consumption at their respective sites, including quotes from all parties involved.

(5) Cowboys give lions a 1st, 3rd, and 6th rounder this year and a 7th next for a good #2 receiver who over the past 5 years (since he was 22) has had similar stats to Isaac Bruce (since he was 32). Granted Williams has more longevity, but 19 receptions for 200 yards and 1 TD through 10 games with the Cowboys isn’t very good. Did I mention the Cowboys missed the playoffs and and now lack draft picks to bring in fresh talent? Cassel Trade: Early pick of 2nd round for a backup QB and a 33 year old OLB. Yes Cassel’s talent is debatable again, will he succeed as a starter surrounded by less talent? It’s up for grabs but to the Patriots he was a backup and they got incredible value for him. -ESPN

(6) Haynesworth has played in 16 games once in his 7 year career. His rookie season. He was suspended for stepping on an opposing players chest during a game and has a history of taking plays off. He has played primarily in a 4-3 defense. – NFL’s website

(7) Thank you Dan Snyder, your crazy ways have given us Harris and now Evans. Your most productive D-lineman (Evans) last year was cut to make room for Haynesworth’s salary. Hope he can make up for two. -NFL’s website

There’s no doubt, either by sheer luck, or dumb front officers across the Bay, San Fran got a steal with Crabtree. (We hope) but, I digress……I do agree with you that the Niners in the past few years have been TOTALLY SILENT in free agency. And don’t give me the same old standby reasons. Lets look at this LOGICALLY:
1) As good as he was supposed to be, Clements has had games where he was consistantly beaten like a Gov. Mule!
2) Justin Smith….the #‘s don’t lie: As a DE he only had 73 tkls, 50 solo tkls, 23 asst. tkls,
a WHOPPING 7 Sks, 3 pass def, and 1 int. Oh yeah, he scares my sons little league offense to death!
3) If you really believed Kurt Warner was going to leave a team that JUST lost the Super Bowl to come to a rebuilder…….you’re on crack!

The true bottom line is that I don’t think the Niners have a clue about free agency. YES, Dan OVERPAID for Haynesworth, but, with the players that are already on the team, ADDING Orakbo, let’s all agree that QB’s next year in the Nation’s Capital will find the true euphoria in MORPHINE! It seems every year that comes to a close, the Niners simply are too afraid to step into the waters and find out what can happen. Granted, this years stock wasn’t the best.
TO…..Not with a Gov. Bailout attached!
Haynesworth, not at those prices.
But, you can’t tell me that going after Matt Cassell or better yet, T.J. Houshmanzada( W’House-your-momma) wouldn’t have been worth a REAL chance.
In conclusion, the Niners need to quit being afraid to pull the trigger on a potentially good player just because of FEAR! The experience is there. Use it. By the way…….whoever was the person responsible foacquiring that guy, Banta-Cain, needs to be drug out into the middle of the street and beaten severly with metal impliments about the head and shoulders in front of his children! That was just plain AWFUL!
 

There’s only one time it makes sense to overpay for a free agent (and yes, Haynesworth was overpaid). That is when you believe that the player in question gets you a championship.

That’s it. Otherwise, cap considerations mean you’ll have to release other quality players, weakening your team.

The team did make a trade. They saw that they didn’t think the players available were an upgrade over what they had, and so they traded the pick for next year. This is a smart play: you don’t tie up your cap in players who you don’t think will contribute.