FanPost

Niners Free Agent Signings ... Who's Out and Who's In?

Now that all the franchise tags have been doled out and some potential free agents have been re-signed by their present teams, we have a much better idea of who is really available to be signed by a new team when the free agency circus starts next Tuesday ... unless of course they also re-sign with their present clubs between now and then. I know that a lot of folks are excited about the Niners potentially landing one or two big-name guys. However, I believe that the Niners have learned their lesson from the years of "cap hell" pain endured because of their past cap-management mistakes ... killing the team's future by signing big-dollar and back-loaded contracts for present gratification. And believe me, it was painful. Fortunately Baalke certainly demonstrated his understanding of that lesson in his free agent actions last year. In light of that, let's examine the roster of probable free agents and see who makes sense and who doesn't.

WIDE RECEIVERS (our biggest need):

Who's out? Vince Jackson (San Diego), Mike Wallace (Pittsburgh) -- just too costly!!

Who's in? Marques Colston (New Orleans), Robert Meachem (New Orleans), Mario Manningham (Giants), Pierre Garcon (Indy)

OFFENSIVE GUARDS (a starter to replace Snyder/Rachal):

Who's out? Carl Nicks (New Orleans), Ben Grubbs (Baltimore) -- once again, just too costly!

Who's in? Evan Mathis (Philadelphia), Jeremy Zuttah (Tampa Bay), Adam Snyder (San Francisco)

Surprise -- did you know that Snyder (probably because of his versatility) is ranked as the 17th best free agent on the market?

Damn, damn, damn -- Zuttah was my "surprise" free agent signee for the Niners as our new starting RG, but Tampa Bay just signed him to a four-year extension.

CORNERBACK (presumably to replace Carlos Rogers, if he goes elsewhere):

Who's out? Cortland Finnegan (Tennessee), Brandon Carr (Kansas City)

Who's in? Tracy Porter (New Orleans) ... hey, I'm liking this sticking it to the Saints!

RUNNING BACK (if we're considering drafting a RB to ultimately replace Frank and improve over Dixon, how about considering a free agent for now and drafting a RB from the outstanding 2013 draft class of RBs?):

Who's out? You pick some ... there are a bunch of them

Who's in? Mike Tolbert (San Diego), BenJarvus Green-Ellis (New England), Michael Bush (Oakland)

PASS-RUSHER (DE or OLB ... it ddoesn't matter which):

Who's out? How about Mario Williams (Houston) -- too costly -- and John Abraham (Atlanta) -- too old?

Well, that's enough for now. Obviously this roster of potential Niners via free agency is fun to consider. Who do you think should be added to our team?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.