You know what's really great? Setting really high goals that can't possibly be achieved but nevertheless anger up everyone's blood when it doesn't happen. It's a favorite past-time of sports fans around the world (and apparently, of Jed York and Trent Baalke -- good luck, Jim Tomsula) so why not just keep that train rolling along when it comes to our San Francisco 49ers?
On Thursday, I was writing some articles for the SB Nation mothership when I came across this ranking of the top 25 NFL free agents for this offseason, via Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today. Free agency will get underway on March 10 and certainly, it promises to be one of the best classes we've seen in years. That's still true even if the top guys, like Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, and Justin Houston sign extensions or fall victim to the franchise tag.
But rather than the fact that they list 49ers offensive lineman Mike Iupati as the No. 11 available free agent, the 49ers are also mentioned two other times in the post. Not with their own free agents, but as potential suitors for two others: Detroit Lions defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley.
They're not heavy on the details when it comes to rationalizing these suitors. For Suh, who should be getting one of the richest contracts in NFL history, they simply say that the 49ers and Oakland Raiders are options, while the NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks are "long-shots." For Fairley, they note that he is one of the "under-the-radar defenders" this year, and that the 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers and NFC West rival Arizona Cardinals should be interested.
Obviously, both of these are totally unlikely scenarios. The 49ers are in a bad, bad way when it comes to the salary cap for 2015, and any deals would need to be light for the first season. Guys like Suh don't have to accept something like that, and it's hard to imagine any scenario in which the 49ers are even remotely in the running for him.
Fairley is a different story, depending on what his market looks like. He's a force on the field, but has both injury and off-the-field concerns. Those things could lead to him being in San Francisco's price range, but I'm not sure if the 49ers want to take that kind of baggage on board. Both would obviously be a great fit on a defense that certainly needs defensive line help. But at this point, it's hard to see why they're listed on USA Today's article.