Krangodnzr
Captain of Team Conner
49ers report: Inside slant (from CBS.Sportsline.com)
March 17, 2003
The San Francisco 49ers are taking things slowly during free agency. There have been no big-money contracts to offer, mostly because the big money they're prepared to spend has been set aside to help keep some of their own players around.
The 49ers might be out of their salary-cap purgatory, but things have certainly not gotten any easier for them. Some of their key players are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents at the end of the 2003 season, which means they might have a difficult time keeping this current squad together past this season.
Among the notable players who have just one season remaining on their contracts are receivers Terrell Owens and Tai Streets (he has been tendered as a restricted free agent), linebacker Julian Peterson, and cornerbacks Ahmed Plummer and Jason Webster.
The team's most valuable player in recent seasons has been Owens, who is likely to break the bank with his next contract.
"You look at our team and there are a lot of good football players on it and we would like to keep those players in the future," 49ers general manager Terry Donahue said. "T.O. is certainly one of them. When it is appropriate, we will start to talk to his representatives about what the possibilities are for the future and what we need to do."
Donahue said he plans to begin contract negotiations with Owens at some point after the April draft. Upon examining recent contracts signed by Randy Moss, Ray Lewis and Donovan McNabb, Owens is expected to command a signing bonus of at least $20 million.
Owens has already told the team that once he reports to training camp this summer, all talks about his contract will cease so he can concentrate solely on the upcoming season.
Even under the ownership of team director John York, the 49ers have shown a willingness to award big contracts. It seems to be a matter of just how far they will go.
Critics of the organization point to the two contracts the team gave to defensive tackles Bryant Young and Dana Stubblefield.
Young's production has steadily fallen off after signing a gargantuan deal two years ago in which he was guaranteed $20 million in the first two seasons of the contract.
Although Young recorded just two sacks last season, the team has no other choice but to pay his $4.5 million salary for the upcoming season. They can't even think about cutting him because of the $14.6 million cap hit they would endure from the unamortized signing bonus money.
When the team released Stubblefield two weeks ago, it has been suggested that they did not realize that more than $1.3 million of his $2.3 million contract was guaranteed.
Some of the 49ers' money has been well-spent, though it hurts them on the cap just the same. Quarterback Jeff Garcia, whose contract expires after the 2004 season, will earn $20.4 million in 2002 and '03 combined. His contract calls for him to make the franchise figure as his salary next season, expected to be around $9 million.
Just like with Young, the 49ers won't be able to do much with Garcia's contract if he should struggle under new coach Dennis Erickson's system. Garcia has a future pro-ration of around $10.2 million.
If the 49ers are unable to sign Owens to a contract extension, they could place a franchise tag on him. That option does not appear realistic because of the cap problems it would create for the franchise, as well as the discontent it would create with Owens.
Owens' unamortized signing bonus money (approximately $5 million) would count against the team's 2004 cap, in addition to the one-year franchise salary (more than $5 million).
The franchise salary is the average of the top five players at a particular position in the league. The club would then receive two first-round draft picks as compensation. But more than $10 million in cap space devoted to one player might make it difficult to keep the rest of the roster intact.
So if the 49ers do not get anything worked out with Owens before training camp, they run the risk of losing him while making Peterson their franchise player for roughly half the cap space.
With those issues looming, the 49ers figure to be frugal when it comes to free agents this offseason when that money could be used to maintain their nucleus in the future.
March 17, 2003
The San Francisco 49ers are taking things slowly during free agency. There have been no big-money contracts to offer, mostly because the big money they're prepared to spend has been set aside to help keep some of their own players around.
The 49ers might be out of their salary-cap purgatory, but things have certainly not gotten any easier for them. Some of their key players are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents at the end of the 2003 season, which means they might have a difficult time keeping this current squad together past this season.
Among the notable players who have just one season remaining on their contracts are receivers Terrell Owens and Tai Streets (he has been tendered as a restricted free agent), linebacker Julian Peterson, and cornerbacks Ahmed Plummer and Jason Webster.
The team's most valuable player in recent seasons has been Owens, who is likely to break the bank with his next contract.
"You look at our team and there are a lot of good football players on it and we would like to keep those players in the future," 49ers general manager Terry Donahue said. "T.O. is certainly one of them. When it is appropriate, we will start to talk to his representatives about what the possibilities are for the future and what we need to do."
Donahue said he plans to begin contract negotiations with Owens at some point after the April draft. Upon examining recent contracts signed by Randy Moss, Ray Lewis and Donovan McNabb, Owens is expected to command a signing bonus of at least $20 million.
Owens has already told the team that once he reports to training camp this summer, all talks about his contract will cease so he can concentrate solely on the upcoming season.
Even under the ownership of team director John York, the 49ers have shown a willingness to award big contracts. It seems to be a matter of just how far they will go.
Critics of the organization point to the two contracts the team gave to defensive tackles Bryant Young and Dana Stubblefield.
Young's production has steadily fallen off after signing a gargantuan deal two years ago in which he was guaranteed $20 million in the first two seasons of the contract.
Although Young recorded just two sacks last season, the team has no other choice but to pay his $4.5 million salary for the upcoming season. They can't even think about cutting him because of the $14.6 million cap hit they would endure from the unamortized signing bonus money.
When the team released Stubblefield two weeks ago, it has been suggested that they did not realize that more than $1.3 million of his $2.3 million contract was guaranteed.
Some of the 49ers' money has been well-spent, though it hurts them on the cap just the same. Quarterback Jeff Garcia, whose contract expires after the 2004 season, will earn $20.4 million in 2002 and '03 combined. His contract calls for him to make the franchise figure as his salary next season, expected to be around $9 million.
Just like with Young, the 49ers won't be able to do much with Garcia's contract if he should struggle under new coach Dennis Erickson's system. Garcia has a future pro-ration of around $10.2 million.
If the 49ers are unable to sign Owens to a contract extension, they could place a franchise tag on him. That option does not appear realistic because of the cap problems it would create for the franchise, as well as the discontent it would create with Owens.
Owens' unamortized signing bonus money (approximately $5 million) would count against the team's 2004 cap, in addition to the one-year franchise salary (more than $5 million).
The franchise salary is the average of the top five players at a particular position in the league. The club would then receive two first-round draft picks as compensation. But more than $10 million in cap space devoted to one player might make it difficult to keep the rest of the roster intact.
So if the 49ers do not get anything worked out with Owens before training camp, they run the risk of losing him while making Peterson their franchise player for roughly half the cap space.
With those issues looming, the 49ers figure to be frugal when it comes to free agents this offseason when that money could be used to maintain their nucleus in the future.
