Yesterday afternoon, word leaked that the 49ers had agreed to terms on a contract with OT Barry Sims. Earlier today, the 49ers sent out a press release making it official, and setting Sims up for a conference call this afternoon. I've posted the transcript of that conference call after the jump.
The best part is Sims acknowledgment of his potential role and how he could fit in to the 49ers 2010 plans with the potential implications of next month's draft. Sims is 35 years old and approaching the end of his career. After initially signing with the 49ers as a back-up, he stepped in last season when Joe Staley went down. In his seven starts in place of Staley, Sims was fantastic. The 49ers certainly hope he rarely sees the field in 2010, but given his 2009 performance the 49ers have a great depth guy.
What I thought was the best part of the conference call was his comment about his role and dealing with young players:
On whether he sees himself in the swing tackle role that he had last season:
"Yes, I assume that would be the case, to provide depth and with my experience, be able to play both sides and really help the younger guys develop a little quicker."
On the 49ers possibly using a first round pick on an offensive lineman:
"Well, I've always tried my best to guess in these situations of what's going on, but I'm usually never right. If they do draft an offensive lineman, we would love to have him and I like working with the young guys and just try to mentor them a little bit like some of the older guys did for me when I first got into the league because it's a lot different from college. To have someone who's been there and done that to really take you in and show you how things work and how it's supposed to go, it's a fun role to have."
It's good to have guys who know their role and are happy with that kind of role. Given that incentives could get him up to $2.1 million (performance incentives), it's not exactly the worst deal for him.
T Barry Sims
Conference Call - March 23, 2010
San Francisco 49ers
On what was the thought process for you to come back to the 49ers:
"Well, you know, it was a feeling I got just being back with my teammates and the organization. When you go away, it was a real eye-opening experience for me just to see that you have to re-establish relationships with everybody and I would really miss the guys here in San Francisco. We have such a great group of guys, especially on the offensive line, that I really look forward to working with those guys."
On whether he sees himself in the swing tackle role that he had last season:
"Yes, I assume that would be the case, to provide depth and with my experience, be able to play both sides and really help the younger guys develop a little quicker."
On whether offensive line coach Chris Foerster was what drew him to Washington:
"Well, playing for Chris would have been a draw and I knew people at the organization, in the front office. It sounded good initially, but going out there, I just knew that I would rather be back home."
On whether Washington offered him a starting job or backup job:
"I knew they don't really have anything because they were missing out on a lot of guys, especially with [T] Chris Samuels retiring. My expectation of it would have been to go in as the starter and try to help develop a younger guy, but it just didn't seem like it was the right fit."
On the 49ers possibly using a first round pick on an offensive lineman:
"Well, I've always tried my best to guess in these situations of what's going on, but I'm usually never right. If they do draft an offensive lineman, we would love to have him and I like working with the young guys and just try to mentor them a little bit like some of the older guys did for me when I first got into the league because it's a lot different from college. To have someone who's been there and done that to really take you in and show you how things work and how it's supposed to go, it's a fun role to have."
On whether any of the guys lobbied him to stay in San Francisco:
"Yes, I talked to those guys, and they all understood that it was something that I needed to do as far as my career. I'm not going to play forever and it was just an option that I had to explore because you don't get too many chances to be in that situation. It was something that I wanted to do to see if it would be a good fit for my family. When it was all said and done, it wasn't."
On whether he was pleasantly surprised with his play after T Joe Staley went down with an injury:
"I wasn't surprised. I've been a starter my whole career, so I didn't have the big eyes. It wasn't a concern from that standpoint, and as a backup, you really have to prepare yourself like you are going to play at any given time. In that case it just so happened, in the Indianapolis game, on the first play of the game. I was ready to go regardless of what happened. I think being a veteran and having that experience really helped me. I didn't ever doubt myself at any point."
On the players that he played with when he first came into the league:
"There was [T] Lincoln Kennedy, and [G] Steve Wisniewski, were two of the main guys, veterans, with the Raiders that really helped me establish myself. I started as a rookie, so those guys were on the third line and were able to lead me along a little bit. As a rookie starting, there are a lot of expectations, but at the same time there's a lot of stuff going on that you may not have seen and those guys, seeing how calm they were and how to handle yourself in certain situations really helped me."
On whether he's gotten a feel for offensive line coach Mike Solari and how things might change from the past two seasons:
"I've talked to him a number of times on the phone and I met with him today. I really like the guy. I like his approach, working in the room with us as a line. I'm excited for where that goes. He's got a great track record as an offensive line coach and has coached many good players. So, I'm excited to see that. Playing a new offensive line coach is not always easy, but sometimes when you play for guys that have been around a lot of great players, they bring a lot to the table just because of what they've seen. Maybe what they've taught or seen from somebody else that they can teach you that can take you to the next level. So I'm real excited about that."
On whether they will be doing more zone blocking than they did under former offensive line coach Chris Foerster:
"That remains to be seen. I really don't know to that extent. Today was the first time I met him in person. We still have a ways to go before training camp and before we get all our systems in place. You know never what's going to happen as the offense goes, working with the guys to see what works best. It's hard to say at this point."
On whether it was a group meeting with the entire offensive line:
"Yes, I met with the whole offensive line. It's great to be back in the room with those guys. It's been a couple months since we've all been together so it's always fun to get back into a routine working out and spending time with those guys."