Jairus Byrd

I saw earlier today this note on Byrd and his situation w/ Buffalo - it got me thinking about the long-term possibilities of having Reid and Byrd playing together as our Safeties:

Appearing on Thursday Night Countdown, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported the Bills have had "dialogue" with other teams about trading FS Jairus Byrd.
Mort didn't suggest a deal was likely to happen, but did say the door will remain open until the trade deadline. He added that it would have to be a "player-for-player" swap since teams don't trade first- or second-round picks for safeties, even ones as good as Byrd.

Whitner's contract is up after this season...we all know his strengths as a team leader who quarterbacks the D much of the time along with his good tackling ability. However, he's very much a liability vs. the pass and just gives up way too many TDs. With the NFL becoming an ever-increasing passing league, we need no weak links in our secondary to avoid getting exposed. I like our corners for this year and beyond, especially if we draft a couple of quality ones next year. Could we somehow package Whitner together with a draft pick to get Byrd from Buffalo? This is not an attack on Whitner - I like a lot of what he does. However, Reid and Byrd at the back end would make our D that much more dominant for years to come. Or, are we too close to the regular season where this could screw up our D, the chemistry, leadership, etc., where Byrd would also have to come in and pick up the ins-and-outs of our D scheme?

Yeah, Byrd is looking for Goldson money and if we were going to pay a safety that much we would have just signed Goldson. We don't really have room for it as we will have to save up for Iupati, Kaepernick, Aldon Smith and then possibly Brown, Crabtree, Culliver, Miller and Hunter. So don't see it happening. And if you are talking a one year rental don't see the point of it. They'd want more than Whitner and I wouldn't give up a high pick for a year rental and don't think they would either.

Originally posted by Gore_21:
Yeah, Byrd is looking for Goldson money and if we were going to pay a safety that much we would have just signed Goldson. We don't really have room for it as we will have to save up for Iupati, Kaepernick, Aldon Smith and then possibly Brown, Crabtree, Culliver, Miller and Hunter. So don't see it happening. And if you are talking a one year rental don't see the point of it. They'd want more than Whitner and I wouldn't give up a high pick for a year rental and don't think they would either.

You're right - the salary Byrd is most likely looking for after this year, which I've heard is near/at the top for Safeties, might not make this a possibility for the Niners considering all the guys they have to extend. I'm still holding out hope they can re-sign all of the Big Four coming up...Iupati, Kap, Aldon, and Crabtree (assuming his recovery goes well). AB says it's possible and that's good enough for me. :-)

However, if Byrd would somehow take Top 5 Safety money to sign with a contending team like the Niners (and, he went to U. of Oregon...maybe would want to come back to the west coast?), maybe they could get it done in a way without sacrificing too much in trying to sign the other core players? Byrd is only 26 - he will be some team's long-term starting S and he's a playmaker + ballhawk (doing this while playing on a so-so team like the Bills). It's not often a top NFL S like him is potentially available. At some point, the Niners are going to have to dish out a larger chunk of money at the S position...I DID NOT want them to do that for Goldson, though, as I don't feel he's worth anything near what the Bucs paid for him (Byrd is definitely a notch or two better than Goldson, IMO). I'm thinking back to the days when we had the great S tandems of Williamson & Hicks, Lott & Fuller, and McDonald & Hanks...I'm hoping Reid is going to be something special for us and then we just need the other S to pair with him. I know that's probably Whitner for at least this year and maybe more if they choose to re-sign him - and, I know we're fortunate to have him. I just hope he can improve vs. the pass.

I see him going for the green where ever it is; east coast, west coast, gulf coast - it doesn't matter.

Too rich for our blood.

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
I see him going for the green where ever it is; east coast, west coast, gulf coast - it doesn't matter.

Too rich for our blood.

Yeah, probably right. And, this late in the preseason, the coaching staff might not be very comfortable losing a veteran leader on D like Whitner. If our pass rush can stay consistent throughout the whole year, hopefully he'll be fine along with the rest of our secondary.

It's possible, not likely, well not very likely. Would need to do some maneuvering. But likely wont happen, if he hits open market, he probably gets more than Goldson got.

Originally posted by AB83Rules:
It's possible, not likely, well not very likely. Would need to do some maneuvering. But likely wont happen, if he hits open market, he probably gets more than Goldson got.

Sorry about that, AB...when I said in my above post that, "AB says it's possible...", I was referring to the re-signing of the Big Four (Iupati, Kap, Aldon, and Crabtree) at that point. Regarding Byrd, yes, it would be extremely tough to work in a contract he'd command and still have hope towards re-signing these four core players. Just wishful thinking on Byrd, though...

Didn't pay Goldson, wont pay Byrd... /thread

Good thought. Always want to get better and Byrd could do that. Baalke/Harbaugh have done a great job taking calculated bets with low downside risk. Especially in FA. I like Byrd and agree Whitner is a liability in coverage, but i feel we are too far along in the race to change horses. Niners build through the draft. If we can continue to stock pile 10+ picks a year we will have an advantage against the salary cap. Reid is legit.

Originally posted by GoldBlooded1985:
Good thought. Always want to get better and Byrd could do that. Baalke/Harbaugh have done a great job taking calculated bets with low downside risk. Especially in FA. I like Byrd and agree Whitner is a liability in coverage, but i feel we are too far along in the race to change horses. Niners build through the draft. If we can continue to stock pile 10+ picks a year we will have an advantage against the salary cap. Reid is legit.

Good post and makes a lot of sense. "Build through the draft, supplement here and there through free agency"...it's what the Niners do and they do it well. It's a must with the salary cap. And I agree about Reid.

Bumping this thread

So I know that article just came out saying we wont make a splash in FA and we don't pick up huge FAs and we don't have the best salary cap position but damn if we had this guy on our defense we would no doubt be better than the seahawk's D

For people who follow our salary cap closely, what would it take to make room for this guy?

Another Buffalo safety

I dream of him signing with us but he already said he wants to be the highest paid safety.

Wish it were possible.

Hope Baalke proves us wrong.

Originally posted by JustinNiner:
Bumping this thread

So I know that article just came out saying we wont make a splash in FA and we don't pick up huge FAs and we don't have the best salary cap position but damn if we had this guy on our defense we would no doubt be better than the seahawk's D

For people who follow our salary cap closely, what would it take to make room for this guy?

Probably the inability to re-sign Kap, Crabs, and Aldon Smith. If we sign Byrd we probably lose on of the three.

Would be nice, but just don't see it unless he takes a cheap or one year deal to try & win a ring.