49ers 2011 NFL Free Agency Grade: How Have Trent Baalke & Co. Done The Past Week?

Upgrades at every position with exception of NT and with responsible contracts. FB can be upgraded via waiver wire and not an area you’ll see big money thrown at a player. Baalke doing an excellent job, IMO. Mays situation a bit goofy but we’ll see how that plays out.

The 9ers still need a viable back QB for helping to mentor Cap, and to challenge Smith for the starting spot. I think Orton would be awesome, or maybe even swing a trade to aquire the backup QB in Tampa who subsiquently already knows some of Harbaughs plays…

Would have liked to keep Aubrayo, and maybe a bigger splash, but I think Baalke did a solid job in plugging all the major holes in the team.

A little too many 1 year deals for my taste, but maybe that was the FO’s plan

Franklin ( only one good year…ever) and Goldson ( only one great game ever) just thought they were better than what they really were. They did a great job with the money and leaving room to build next year. With a new Head Coach and a new system in place, and a new (old) owner in Jed, who is willing to spend some money, the 49ers are in a rebuiling stage.

While rebuilding doesn’t need to mean we suck, it does mean that you need to give Baalka and Harbaugh some time to field the players they need to run their system. That means next year too.

I gave it a B-…..would have been an A if Nnamdi signed, but then again, we would have spent so much money that some of the other players might not been signed. If they get a CB with their 1st rounder next year, they will be set at most positions to compete year in and year out with the rest of the leauge.

We could still stand for an upgrade at CB, perhaps in the 2012 draft. I’m happy with the players we did acquire, for now. Signing Braylon was a coup IMO and I’m glad he’s here.

All in all, a solid showing……for now. We’ll revisit this scenario during and after the season, I suspect.

because looking at all the pick ups, I couldn’t give any of them an individual grade over a B. They hit a lot of singles and doubles, but no home runs, if that makes sense. Anyway, they did enough to get most of us stoked about the season. I don’t see a SB team here, but I do see an NFC west winner.

with the contigency that they’re not done yet and dont trade Mays unless someone really good is available.

I think A would be acquiring a top 3 at a need position. Example: nnamdi. Or multiple probowlers..but even that can get iffy because of the popularity thing..

I wanted longer contracts for Rogers and Edwards because next year well be in the same boat, waiting furiously for the niners to sign someone to fill an obvious need.

Outside of that, I suppose they did get “bargains”—but as a fan I could care less about that.

is a big win. 1 M base. 2.5 in incentives.

I think Joseph was the answer at CB and FB has not been addressed. But they have done a great job despite our foolish cries against patience. Pass the crow, I’m hungry.

but I still cannot for the life of me figure out how in the heck the raiders expect to survive giving a guy like michael huff the huge contract that he got. I hate the raiders, but at this point I feel bad for their fans.

Getting solid players to fix a DEF that was consistantly getten beaten deep. The O line will be better and we will have schemes that take advantage of our top flight TEs. The only question will be the QB or the QBoTF.

I am truly exicted and I was one like are we going to make SOME type of change. Great step in the right direction.

I am thinking of a word that starts with a Mo and ends with a ron. lol

Let’s not forget that! Even the Packers had a UDFA that came on during the playoffs. I am ready from football.

It’s like grading how you did on the final before you have even sat for it.

I went with B-

I figure a straight C would mean average and I think at face value you can argue the Niners managed better than average. I think beyond that we really need to sit back and see how it all plays out. We know so little about the new staff and exactly what they will be doing and how they will actually use everyone, I just think there are too many questions (but with a LOT of optimism)…

Cannot give a straight A because of the loss of Takeo Spikes. I do understand that giving a 35 year old LB a three million dollar contract makes little sense, but that was hard to swallow.

The 49ers pretty much upgraded at every other position during free agency. Whitner is a major upgrade over whoever the 49ers had at the safety position. He will help out a lot in the run game, can move over to FS if needed and has even played slot corner. Williams is a better cover man than Goldson or Mays (whatever happens to him). Also, Carlos Rogers is a major upgrade over Clements in terms of coverage, which was a glaring issue for the 49ers secondary.

The huge upgrades have come with the two moves on the offensive side of the ball. Goodwin is a major upgrade from Baas, has a winning history and is a leader a long the offensive line. Doesn’t hurt that he made the Pro Bowl in 2009 and was an alternate in 2010. Edwards is better than any receiver on the roster and gives Smith that big down field threat SF ha been missing since TO left.

Huge off-season moves so far for San Francisco

so i can slap you upside the head…

For a first-time general manager, Baalke is playing it like a veteran. Picking up numerous top tier players on fantastic contracts. I think he nailed the contract lengths on the head as well. Goodwin- Reliable, top-notch Center gets a three year deal.
Edwards- Questionable character, he must earn a future big-time contract.
Rogers- We don’t exactly know where our corners will be in a season from now, so I see the one-year contract as perfectly acceptable, although I would’ve been fine with more also.
Whitner- Young, highly talented safety—three-year deal a no-brainer in my view.
Baalke played FA brilliantly—Injecting serious talent on both sides of the ball, while engineering highly favorable contracts for every pickup. Atta boy, Funkhaus.. I mean Trent!

Team did not improve through free agency.

Significantly Worse

Franklin – for all this talk (bs) about scheme Franklin went to multiple a schemed (4-3, 3-4) defensive coordinator (Gregg Williams) who likes to blitz the hell out of people, and is very good at it. If Franklin can fit in Williams scheme than the 49ers personnel department made a horrendous mistake. Williams is so confident he got a steal in Franklin he said “Willis will be crying in his milk”.

Lawson – head and shoulders above any OLB lined opposite of A. Smith. Again I don’t understand how a personnel department justifies this. They let their 2nd best OLB (by far) walk for a modest price when could have instead cut off the other dead weight (Haralson, Brooks). Manny is very good against the run and best covering OLB in the NFL. Haralson is an absolute liability against outside edge runners, screen passes, tackles in open field and barely a better pass rusher than Lawson. Brooks was effing terrible last season. He was a yellow flag and free deep throw for the offense and doesn’t know his assignments. The rest is unproven or worse than mediocre.

Spikes – although he has good replacement already on the roster, three good ILB was real roster luxury. If Willis or Bowman get banged up the next guy off the bench is a serious downgrade. I understand why the 49ers couldn’t resign him, why he didn’t want to come back, but his loss is a sum negative for the roster.

About the Same

Rodgers/Clements – are equals values. Both have some talent, both have some faults. Either of these two could have a better 2011 season but its a stretch call either an obvious upgrade over the other.

Goodwin/Baas – A guy who played better in 2009 but got his recognition in 2010. He is an average center who is a little better at pass blocking than Baas. The trade off is Goodwin is at the end of his career while Baas just entering his peak years. Might play similar this season but Baas will have the better next three years.

Whitner/Goldson – Whitner an obvious upgrade at strong safety, he is a solid player. Its a draw because the 49ers are losing their starting FS Goldson, who himself was a solid player. Again can make a million excuses why Goldson isn’t returning to the 49ers but the bottom line is he a loss to the roster and Madieu Williams is a poor replacement. Overall the secondary doesn’t look any stronger on paper, it’s just different.

Upgrades

Akers – he is a good kicker and was tired of trying squeeze more miles out of a broken down Nedney. Its an upgrade but the impact here is limited.

Edwards – He is an upgrade in talent and production but he’ll fail this team in its most crucial moments … he always has. He also might be suspended early in the season so can’t even be a sub while Crabtree is missing. For this the 49ers are likely to start off the season 0-2 costing the team two of their easier games. Trust when I say all those praising him now will end up questioning him more than me by the end of the season.

The Rest

Is fodder

Doesn’t mean the season is lost. The entire season comes down to whether either Aldon Smith or Colin Kaepernick are franchise changers. The free agent class is window dressing, in some cases cheap, questionable as why the 49ers went cheap window dressing.