Golden Nuggets: An Interesting Week Coming

Good morning folks, and a happy Monday to you all. Although it has been a rather slow weekend in terms of the 49ers, the upcoming week should bring some interesting storylines to follow. Starting next Monday (the 21st), the team will enter the month-long third phase of the offseason training program, which is comprised of 10 days of organized team activities (“OTAs”), and a mandatory 3-day minicamp. To bone up on the rules and regulations surrounding the offseason phases, Fooch put together a primer last month.

In other news, Reuben Foster is exercising his right to a speedy trial, and after pleading “Not Guilty” on Tuesday, May 8th, he is scheduled to appear before the court for a preliminary hearing on Thursday, May 17th. If there are no unexpected delays, the trial will be set within a 60 day period, ending July 9th. Numerous sports writers seem to think this willingness to approach trial so quickly portends a favorable outcome for the embattled linebacker, but I’m content to let the justice system run its course.

If Foster’s trial were to be scheduled towards the far end of that 60 period, the 49ers may find trouble in deciding how to proceed with Foster for the mandatory minicamp (June 12th-14th). Surely, it seems as though the team is keeping their distance from the linebacker, but there has been no news regarding whether or not they have moved to place him on the commissioner’s exempt list. Further dependent upon the team’s willingness to allow Foster at the voluntary OTAs, it stands to reason that rookie LB Fred Warner may find himself the beneficiary of a bad situation.

Four 49ers rookies listed in NFL Top 100 Rookie Projections | Biderman, Ninerswire