San Francisco 49ers 2010 Restricted Free Agents

Late last month I put together a run-down of the 49ers free agents this offseason and considered whether they would stay or go.  It was a mix of restricted and unrestricted free agents, of which there are prominent members of both categories.  Since we've had plenty of info about the franchise and transition tags, I thought it'd be useful to provide some additional information about the restricted free agent status.

This status is in flux with the CBA issues.  Normally a player with 3 years of accrued time is a restricted free agent, but in the event of an un-capped year (looking more and more likely), a player now needs six accrued years to be get unrestricted free agency.  Restricted free agency allows a team to have a much better shot at retaining the given player.  They submit a one-year tender offer at a particularly level.  If another team offers a long term deal to the player, the player's current team has one of two options: 1) They can match that contract and the player then has to re-sign with his current team, or 2) The current team can choose not to match it, which means the new team has to provide draft pick compensation to get the deal done.

If the player is made a tender offer and another team does not make a long term offer to the player, if the player cannot come to terms on a long-term deal with his current team, he would sign the one-year tender offer.

After the jump we break down the RFA tender offers and the 49ers' various restricted free agents (based on no cap)...

The tender offers are as follows:

Tenders for RFAs with three years experience
Original draft pick tender (round in which player was selected) - $1.101M
Second-round tender - $1.684M
First-round tender - $2.396M
First and third-round tender - $3.043M

Tenders for RFAs with four years experience
Original draft pick tender - $1.176M
Second-round tender - $1.759M
First-round tender - $2.521M
First and third-round tender - $3.168M

Tenders for RFAs with five years experience
Original draft pick tender - $1.226M
Second-round tender - $1.849M
First-round tender - $2.621M
First and third-round tender - $3.268M

David Baas: This former second round pick has accrued five NFL seasons.  If I'm reading this correctly, since he was a 2nd round pick originally, the 49ers could tender him at the lowest possible amount ($1.226M) and get the same as they would for the $1.849M second round tender price.  If that's the case, do you bother going with the higher first round tender prices?  I don't think a team is going to make a long-term offer to him because he's struggled plenty.  if that's the case, you might as well save a few bucks.

Verdict: Original draft pick tender ($1.226M)

Ahmad Brooks: I believe Brooks has accrued four seasons, but I'm not positive.  Brooks was drafted in the supplemental draft so I'm not sure how the original draft pick tender would work, and I can't find details on it.  I'd imagine the 49ers strongly want him back and are hoping he can continue his development as a pass rushing force.  The question is how concerned they are about somebody throwing a big contract his way.  I think you go with a minimum of a first round tender offer, but do you consider the 1st and 3rd tender ($3.168M)?  I've stuck with first round tender for now, but I'm not completely sold on it yet.

Verdict: First-round tender - $2.521M

Marcus Hudson: Hudson is in the four-year tender offer crowd.  He brings value on special teams and as depth at cornerback, but he's not a guy you're expecting to draw a ton of attention in free agency.  He was a sixth round pick, and while that's not great compensation, is he worth extra $600,000 of a second round tender (which would guarantee no long-term deals)?

Verdict: Original draft pick tender - $1.176M