This video is floating around the Internet, so I thought why not share it with you all? Adam Schefter was on set with what I believe is Sportscenter in Cleveland for the NBA Finals.
Fooch's update: Here is a link in case the video above is not working.
The video features two topics. Schefter opens with some discussion about Colin Kaepernick. He talks about how the 49ers are talking about Colin Kaepernick showing a lot of good things in the offseason workouts. "He has looked very strong and very effective, and they believe he is on track to becoming the type of player he was a couple years ago."
While I am certainly hopeful for a strong season from Colin Kaepernick, work in the offseason workout program is to be taken with the biggest grain of salt. The team is working in shorts with no real pass rush. Live contact is when things get more interesting, and of course, a regular season pass rush will tell us even more.
That being said, Schefter did say this team would be better than expected if Kap took this kind of step forward. And while there are other questions to consider, improved play from Kap would go a long way for this team to do more than a lot expect.
The second half of the video discussed the 49ers string of retirements. The Sportscenter host talked about the negative aspect of it, but Schefter did go into the positives. He pointed to the sizable eight figures of cap space the 49ers will have due to these retirements. The graphic they use is not exactly accurate because it looks strictly at the cap hit the team expected in 2015. They will clear the full space for Chris Borland, but the other players will be a little bit different. I want to take a greater look at it, but for 2015, I would not be surprised if the team let Justin Smith and Patrick Willis keep the remaining prorated portions of their signing bonuses. Anthony Davis is reportedly returning his signing bonus, but gets to keep his option bonus money. We'll have more details on those numbers in the coming weeks.
It will be interesting to see what the 49ers do with the additional cap space in the coming years. Schefter suggested they would be an active team next spring. Of course, with Aldon Smith, Anquan Boldin and Alex Boone among their many free agents, they have plenty of internal work to consider. I would be surprised if they extended Boone, but less so now considering Anthony Davis's retirement. The team showed they are willing to spend with a nice investment in Torrey Smith, but we'll see if this becomes a regular thing.