The San Francisco 49ers have a decision to make this offseason with regard to Eric Reid's fifth year option, but the 2013 draft class has a few other decisions to be made. A year removed from the disastrous 2012 class, the 49ers actually have six of their 2013 picks still on the roster. There have been question marks about many of them, but at least they're on the roster!
The 49ers roster includes the following 2013 picks: Eric Reid, Tank Carradine, Vance McDonald, Corey Lemonier, Quinton Patton, and Quinton Dial. The team also has undrafted free agent Mike Purcell. The team can take their time with Reid due to his fifth year option, so we'll ignore him for now. That leaves a handful of guys who leave us with slightly mixed feelings about potential contract extensions.
The folks at Over The Cap took a look at the 49ers coming offseason, and suggested a contract extension for Tank Carradine if the team expects to use him more this year. While I would prefer to see Dial extended, Tank would probably be the easier one to sign of the two. He hasn't done a whole lot of much, and could be extended cheap if the team thinks they will use him more.
Dial on the other hand is coming off a strong 2015 season, and is otherwise guaranteed to hit free agency next offseason. He is all but certain to be starting again next year, and another solid year could further boost his pay day. Of course, given the potential for injury, Dial and his agent could decide to cash in now, leaving room for another deal a few years down the road.
Vance McDonald showed some signs briefly with Blaine Gabbert, but generally has remained wildly inconsistent. I would be surprised if he got any kind of extension at this point. And really, with Blake Bell and potentially Busta Anderson in the mix, maybe the team starts to look to the "post-Vance McDonald" era sooner rather than later. Considering he never really got things going completely, you could make the argument that he's on the hot seat heading into training camp.
And Quinton Patton? If Anquan Boldin departs, the 49ers could very well work Patton further into the offense. DeAndre Smelter, Bruce Ellington, and DeAndrew White are all guys who might be looked at as potential replacements for Boldin, but Patton is the only one to get anything close to consistent playing time this year. He did not really shine, but he could be a decent third or fourth receiver. If he can latch on to Chip Kelly's offense, maybe the team signs him to a modest extension.
Mike Purcell was part of this class, as an undrafted free agent. He spent 2013 and 2014 primarily on the practice squad. He was promoted to the 53-man active roster at the end of 2014, and spent all of last season on the active roster. He got playing time late, and depending on Ian Williams' free agency and Glenn Dorsey's ACL recovery, Purcell could be in line for a boost in playing time. He is signed through 2016 at this point. If he plays out his contract, he will be an exclusive rights free agent next year, a restricted free agent in spring 2018, and an unrestricted free agent in spring 2019. The 49ers have time to do something, so that likely bumps him down the list.