The San Francisco 49ers have been vocal in the media about wanting running back Frank Gore back next season. Gore has been vocal in the media about wanting to return next season. But Trent Baalke has said that he doesn't know whether a deal will get done. We had our predictions post yesterday, and at the time of writing this, 82 percent of you think Gore will be back.
But he's going to hit the open market on March 10, for the first time in his career, if the 49ers can't work out an extension for him.
Gore, for what it's worth, doesn't necessarily know where he stands with the front office (I wonder if anybody does at this point, given the disarray of this offseason). Gore took to his Instagram account on Sunday night, expressing his love for the fans and more:
"I know the fans love me but I need to know if the management does," Gore said, "But I'm going to love my fans no matter what."
I don't know if that comes from a place of him trying and failing to get an answer out of the 49ers, if things haven't been going well between the two sides or if things simply haven't been engaged to any significant degree at this point. The free agency running back class is very strong this offseason, but I still expect Gore to draw interest from at least a couple teams.
My intuition tells me that there will be teams willing to pay more than the 49ers can or will, or at the very least they'll be able to offer more years. I think if San Francisco is going to keep Gore, they need to lock him up before he becomes a free agent.