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Matt Barrows is reporting that the San Francisco 49ers have agreed to a four-year deal with defensive lineman Quinton Dial. The 49ers selected Dial in the fifth round with the 24th pick of that round. It will take a little bit for the "official" numbers to leak out, but Over The Cap put together estimates on the 49ers rookie deals. OTC projects Dial to get a $181,652 signing bonus on a deal worth $2,341,652.
Dial was selected in part because of his versatility. At Alabama, he played all along the defensive line, getting work in both 3-4 and 4-3 systems. Mike Mayock described him as "a quintessential five-technique. What they do is stop the rush."
That being said, I fully expect Dial to be tested in the coming months at just about every position on the 49ers defensive line. When Dial spoke with the media after his selection, he pointed to his versatility. He has some work to do, but he could very well end up in a Ricky Jean Francois role at some point. He faces a tall task behind Glenn Dorsey, Ian Williams and Tank Carradine, so he will have to show his stuff quickly coming out of the gate.
Yesterday we took a look at some of the nuances of rookie contracts. The CBA locks in picks in rounds two through seven to four year contracts with no fifth year option (as first rounders get). As a fifth round pick, Dial can earn a proven performance escalator. He would qualify for this in his fourth year if he either:
1) participates in a minimum of 35% of the team's defensive plays in any two of his previous three regular seasons; or
2) participates in a "cumulative average" of at least 35% of his Club's defensive plays over his previous three regular seasons. "Cumulative average" means the sum of the total number of defensive plays in which the player participated over the applicable seasons, divided by the sum of the Club's defensive plays during the same seasons.