Demarcus Dobbs signs 1-year RFA tender, returns for more competition

The San Francisco 49ers took care of a little more business Friday afternoon. The team announced that defensive lineman Demarcus Dobbs signed his restricted free agent tender. The 49ers had given him an original round tender, which is good for a $1.431 million salary in 2014. There is no indication he received any outside offers, and so he returns on a 1-year deal. If he makes the team at the end of training camp and plays through the season, he would become an unrestricted free agent in 2015.

Dobbs will compete with Tony Jerod-Eddie, Tank Carradine, and Quinton Dial for reserve playing time. It could also get interesting depending on how the nose tackle competition shakes out. If Ian Williams reclaims his nose tackle role, Glenn Dorsey would be the favorite to claim the No. 1 backup defensive line role. The others would get opportunities, particularly Tank Carradine, but Dorsey can potentially play all across the line.

Dobbs has done some big things in training camp each of his three years with the team, but he seemed to slip down the depth chart a little bit in 2013. He got a lot more playing time behind Justin Smith and Ray McDonald with Tony Jerod-Eddie, but TJE seemed to become the more primary backup. Dobbs got solid work in on the line, but he also spent a lot of time working on special teams, so that also might have been why TJE got more defensive snaps.