The world of restricted free agency is generally a fairly quiet one. RFAs spend March and often into April searching the market for deals, before more often than not re-signing with their original team. This year, the deadline for teams to sign offer sheets is April 20.
Guys like Mike Wallace and Larry Grant have been under the radar for much of the last few weeks since free agency began. Wallace has a first round tender, so it makes a bit more sense. Grant, on the other hand, has a seventh round tender, but does not appear to be drawing much interest. He could be getting some visits but we haven't seen a single thing about it thus far.
Matt Barrows pointed to an interesting tweet by Grant last night:
Bout that time for me to get back home and in my business mode.. gotta get it folks.. Big year for the niners!!!! #TunnelVision...
— Larry Grant (@LarryGrant54) March 27, 2012
According to Barrows, Grant's agent indicated he hadn't signed anything, so we will simply be waiting out the April 20 deadline. This tweet would seem to indicate Grant is expecting to return on the RFA tender for 2012. That could change in the next 24 days, but for now it seems like a strong possibility.
Returning Grant to the ILB corps, as well as his work on special teams would be a strong move for the 49ers as they close out free agency. They have virtually no inside linebacker depth, and as we saw late last year, having a strong backup is essential. The special teams units should be strong again in 2012, but this would further ensure that.