NFL reporter Adam Caplan is reporting that sources indicated the San Francisco 49ers have agreed to terms with sixth round pick Jason Slowey. Contract terms have not been disclosed, but the expected value based on the rookie salary pool is approximately $2.193 million total package and a signing bonus of $92,512. The numbers are estimated based on last year's rookie pool and the approximate increase in it this season. Slowey would be the first 49ers rookie to sign.
Slowey played offensive tackle at Division II Western Oregon, but is expected to move inside with the 49ers. The team indicated plans to move him inside to either guard or center:
The fourth rounder, Joe Looney, played center at the Senior Bowl. Do you want to see him play there with the 49ers or is that Jason Slowey's, backup center?
BAALKE: "The value is they can play both. They can play guard and center. We'll find where they fit best for us. We're very high on both of them. Obviously, Joe played at a higher level of competition, but Jason's a young man that has the traits that we're looking for, much like we saw in [Mike] Person and [Daniel] Kilgore last year. He's a young man that played left tackle in college and he's now going to move inside in the National Football League. Where they end up ultimately, that's for the coaches to decide. We just felt good about their traits and developing as interior linemen in the National Football League."
HARBAUGH: Jason Slowey, had a great visit with him. He's an offensive tackle at Western Oregon and, really, what his best position is on this football team, we'll evaluate and see. Right now, we feel like that would probably be guard or center. Feel like a lot of upside with him. Would not even be opposed to just understanding that he's going to need maybe a year, time on task, but great coaches to work with in Coach [Mike] Solari and Coach [Tim] Drevno. We feel like that's someone that has a big upside, a lot of room to grow there. We're excited about that pick.
Jonathan Goodwin is locked in at center for now, but the 33-year old is not going to be a long term answer at the position. Slowey will likely get training camp reps at both center and guard. I still think his realistic best case is making the roster and spending the entire season as one of the seven inactive players.
After the jump I've posted Slowey's conference call transcript from shortly after the team selected him. It is interesting to note his only pre-draft visit was to the 49ers. He also provided the ultimate buzz word for the 49ers: "You learn to work hard, real blue-collar mentality up here."
OL Jason Slowey
Conference Call - April 28, 2012
San Francisco 49ers
Listen to Audio I Media Center
You must have had a strong suspicion that the 49ers might be one of the teams calling your name?
"Yeah, I thought it might be. I went down there. That was actually my only pre-draft visit so I kind of thought that they were pretty interested. My agent said to look for them, that they had been talking about me maybe in the sixth or seventh round. It was definitely one of the teams at the top of my list that I thought might pick me."
What position do you envision yourself playing?
"They were talking about center. Actually, I made the switch over to center for the All-Star game I played at down in Arkansas. So, maybe center, guard, swing guy, definitely left tackle, play interior line."
You were a tackle in college, is that right?
"Yeah, I played left tackle here at Western Oregon four years."
What All-Star game was that where you first transitioned to center?
"It was the Players All Star Classic in Little Rock, Arkansas in February."
If the 49ers were the only ones that had you in for a visit, did you get any feelers from other teams at all?
"I had a couple teams call me. Talked to probably 10-15 teams just to get my updated information for draft day. Talked to a couple O-Line coaches, but I definitely had the most contact with San Francisco."
Who did you meet with when you came out here?
"I met with [Offensive Line] Coach [Mike] Solari and then I also met with Coach Harbaugh. I pretty much met with everyone and took a little tour. Watched film, like I said, with Coach Solari and did some stuff on the board."
Did they tell you how they discovered you?
"No, not really. They were present at my pro-day as well as the All Star game, so I'm assuming one of those two situations."
What was it like playing college ball up there?
"At Western?"
Sure.
"It's different, Division II. Real small school, we only have about 12 scholarships, so it's nothing like probably any of the other guys that I'm going to be coming in with in San Francisco. You learn to work hard, real blue-collar mentality up here. Everything you get is with hard work, so I think that's going to be a big help for me at the next level."
Did you get a full scholarship of those 12?
"We have 12 scholarships, but we have to break them up. So I only had tuition up here."
How many people go to that school?
"I think we're at about 5,000 or so."
How did you start out at Division II, now you're going to be in the NFL? Were you not recruited heavily out of high school?
"No, coming out of high school I was only about 260 pounds. I wasn't really in the weight room at all so I didn't get the looks from the Division I schools. I came here, got in the weight room, kind of started to take things a little more seriously and this is where I'm at now."
Can you tell us a little bit about participating on the track team?
"I did track here for four years. I was a four-time conference champion in the shot put. Our men's team won a total of six conference championships between indoor and outdoor. Went to nationals, so I've had a pretty successful track career."
You mentioned you were only 260 pounds coming out of high school. What are you now?
"I'm at 305 right now."
Just to give us an idea, what were you benching maybe when you came into college and what are you benching now?
"We did the 225 tests the first day I got here and I only did, I think, 3 reps. Then my pro day I did 38 reps. I've done more. The most I've ever done in 225 was 45. And then I've done 21 reps with 305. So, my bench is quite a bit."
Wow, so that's a lot of time in the weight room you've spent?
"Yeah."
When you were here, did you get a sense of what the depth was like at center and interior guard?
"We really didn't talk about that too much. We just kind of went over my film. Talked about things I can work on, do differently technique wise. We didn't really talk too much about the depth in San Francisco center-wise."
Are you familiar with it though?
"Not too much."