Good morning! Things are pretty quiet in the NFL right now, and really won’t pick back up for another few weeks. Well, somebody doing something stupid and getting arrested is always a possibility, but otherwise, things should remain pretty low key.
The next big thing on the overall sports calendar is NBA free agency. That gets going at 9:01 p.m. June 30. The NFL used to start their free agency at this late hour, but they wised up and moved it to the afternoon. 1 p.m. PT is the regular time for most notable NFL events.
Free agent contracts are not an apple-to-apple comparison between sports. Different TV deals, different roster sizes, different collective bargaining agreements all lead to big differences. That being said, it’s always interesting seeing the drastic differences between the NFL and other leagues. This is particularly true when it comes to guaranteed money. NBA and MLB contracts are generally completely guaranteed, while NFL contracts are not. And in the NBA in particular, with big money, and significantly fewer players than the other sports, we see some monster deals handed out.
This has no impact on the NFL, but I am always intrigued by the differences between the leagues. On to the links!
VIDEO: 49ers Solomon Thomas trains with Hall of Famer Warren Sapp (Biderman)
Warren Sapp Is the Latest NFL Legend to Train 49ers DL Solomon Thomas (49ers.com)
The key to Kyle Shanahan's offense: Win on first down (49ers Webzone)
Eli Harold discusses the backlash for joining Colin Kaepernick's protest (49ers Webzone)
Eye toward the future: 49ers keeping tabs on quarterback class in 2018 NFL draft (Biderman)
11 Noteworthy Player Evaluations from 49ers GM John Lynch (49ers.com)
Competition is Wide Open at Cornerback for San Francisco 49ers (NBC Bay Area)
Ranking 49ers most important 11 players on defense (Biderman)
Chip Kelly: Colin Kaepernick was never a distraction (Biderman)
John Lynch: Rookie tight end gives 49ers something they’ve been missing (Biderman)