Can we give some props to Trent Baalke?

Baalke deserves an" A+" for having a plan." F" for not executing it. This is a rudderless ship.

Originally posted by NinerPrideinNJ:

Originally posted by 49erLegacy:
No big name free agent came to the West Coast, except for Sidney Rice. It is not only a 49er issue, big time free agents would rather play on the East Coast or close to it than play on the West Coast.

Arizona- Kevin Kolb, Todd Heap, courting Braylon Edwards
St. Louis (although not West Coast)- Mike Sims Walker


The West Coast argument is a weak one at best.

KK was traded, Heap sucks, courting is not moving and StL is not West Coast.

Originally posted by dj43:
For those who have been giving Baalke a low rating; go read the analysis on ESPN that compared the price teams paid for FAs in the past with their actual performance on the field. The obvious conclusion is that there have been FAR more cases of players like Nate Clements who received huge cash only to return low value.

I don't know Baalke but from what I can see, he realized that the top FAs were not going to be attracted to a team with a 10 year losing streak unless the money was outrageously high. Hence he and Harbaugh set a plan to spend this year developing the tons of undeveloped athletes on this team and see how they do for a year, rather than tear up the salary structure for some guys who may not be worth it.[/quote]

As much as I hate to hear this as a season ticket holder, it probably makes the most sense. However, we definetly need some serious DB help, just so we can stay in games. There is no excuse for not getting a legit corner and letting Clements go. Any commodity's worth is determined by scarcity of resource and importance. Clements is very important to a team with no DBs. We should have kept him until another plan was developed.

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by NinerPrideinNJ:

Originally posted by 49erLegacy:
No big name free agent came to the West Coast, except for Sidney Rice. It is not only a 49er issue, big time free agents would rather play on the East Coast or close to it than play on the West Coast.

Arizona- Kevin Kolb, Todd Heap, courting Braylon Edwards
St. Louis (although not West Coast)- Mike Sims Walker


The West Coast argument is a weak one at best.

eh, Kolb was a trade to a desperate team that was willing to pay Philly's very high price.

I wouldn't say Heap was a big time guy.

Edwards has been the very picture of inconsistency his entire career.

I wouldn't say it is a major consideration, though, more an issue of going where a player thinks he can start and have a chance to go into the playoffs. The NFC West has not been that place although Seattle got some cred last year.

I don't necessarily buy into the chance to go to the playoffs or win a title argument, if that was the case everyone would be leaving money on the table and only Santonio Holmes did.

Anytime that a GM actually makes his team WORSE year over year than it is a dismal failure! If there was a grade worse than F he'd get it. He's been so bad that he may not even be aware Free Agency has started. Arizona and Seatle have both made significant strides forward. even the Rams are likely a better team now than at the end of last year. The Niners.... not so much...

Publicly stating that you "have a plan" but then waiting until all your own promising players are gone, signing only back ups and watching everyone else in the division get better, is ridiculous. I'd much rather have had Balke come out and say that this would be a rebuilding year, there was no money for FA's and that we'd focus on depth rather than marquis players. At least then my hopes wouldn't get crushed (again) this year.

Originally posted by Mookster:
Anytime that a GM actually makes his team WORSE year over year than it is a dismal failure! If there was a grade worse than F he'd get it. He's been so bad that he may not even be aware Free Agency has started. Arizona and Seatle have both made significant strides forward. even the Rams are likely a better team now than at the end of last year. The Niners.... not so much...

Publicly stating that you "have a plan" but then waiting until all your own promising players are gone, signing only back ups and watching everyone else in the division get better, is ridiculous. I'd much rather have had Balke come out and say that this would be a rebuilding year, there was no money for FA's and that we'd focus on depth rather than marquis players. At least then my hopes wouldn't get crushed (again) this year.

Lol, come back to reality. Getting rid of Sing and getting Harbaugh definitly made this team better. All these "promising" players you're talking about were nearing the end of their careers or had one solid year and cashed in on other teams willing to overpay.

Still haven't officially lost Lawson, Franklin or Goldson yet and there is still very solid starters on the FA market. This is the year for Kaep to sit and learn and the coaching staff knowing what their players can do in their new schemes. No reason to break the bank on players that may not even fit into the scheme after this year.

There are plenty of other teams who have been quiet in free agency: Colts, Cowboys, Bucs, Browns, the list goes on. We have re-signed Mcdonald, Franklin should be signed today, Gore is back in camp and obviously by letting guys like TKO, LaBoy, and Clements go, we have took a look at who we want and who we don't want. The FO said out top priority was to resign OUR GUYS and that we would not be major players in FA. If we sign Floyd, Rodgers, Kruetz, and one other guy who can contribute right away then I would say we had a quality off season. No need to brake the bank on sub par guys like Cromartie.

Originally posted by 49erLegacy:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by NinerPrideinNJ:

Originally posted by 49erLegacy:
No big name free agent came to the West Coast, except for Sidney Rice. It is not only a 49er issue, big time free agents would rather play on the East Coast or close to it than play on the West Coast.

Arizona- Kevin Kolb, Todd Heap, courting Braylon Edwards
St. Louis (although not West Coast)- Mike Sims Walker


The West Coast argument is a weak one at best.

eh, Kolb was a trade to a desperate team that was willing to pay Philly's very high price.

I wouldn't say Heap was a big time guy.

Edwards has been the very picture of inconsistency his entire career.

I wouldn't say it is a major consideration, though, more an issue of going where a player thinks he can start and have a chance to go into the playoffs. The NFC West has not been that place although Seattle got some cred last year.

I don't necessarily buy into the chance to go to the playoffs or win a title argument, if that was the case everyone would be leaving money on the table and only Santonio Holmes did.

You are right, but it depends who you are. NA, got money and a playoff team, maybe not the most money, still he realizes he will make it up by being in a big city market with other opps. Others have to take what who wants them.

Money, a chance to start, the teams position in standing (near playoff-playoff), the players own sense of what is important (money, playing close to home etc), the coaches. That is why it baffles me when people say things about the FO during draft or during FA. It takes two to tango. You want to sign guys like Manning and NA who want to win not just the money. Until JH establishes it, where players want to play for him, why squander.

Originally posted by 24plus25er:
There are plenty of other teams who have been quiet in free agency: Colts, Cowboys, Bucs, Browns, the list goes on. We have re-signed Mcdonald, Franklin should be signed today, Gore is back in camp and obviously by letting guys like TKO, LaBoy, and Clements go, we have took a look at who we want and who we don't want. The FO said out top priority was to resign OUR GUYS and that we would not be major players in FA. If we sign Floyd, Rodgers, Kruetz, and one other guy who can contribute right away then I would say we had a quality off season. No need to brake the bank on sub par guys like Cromartie.

I dont think people have a problem with "being quiet" in FA. It's the inaction to replace key starters that's the problem. I'm tired of the "he's not an all world arguement." The bottomline is most NFL roster will be filled with solid role players, sprinked with a few stars. You need role players, especially if you dont have legit back ups. There is not one back up (with the exception of Brooks) that you can say has been groomed to take over the starting role. Most of our back ups last year, really are just that, back ups.

Wait... I just figured out "the plan"... Baalke is going to pull a Pat Riley... he's gonna clear the books and sign the 3 biggest free agents in 2012... Brees, Fitz, and AP.

CHAMPIONSHIP!

I keep hearing "we're going to sign our guys." David Bass, TKO, Goldson, all three are key players at key positions and "our guys." Granted Goldson is still out there and if the Niners sign him my feelings may change but right now Balke is signing none of "our guys" and average players from other teams at best. So far I think "the plan" sucks but maybe I'm just not patient enough. F

Originally posted by Mookster:
Anytime that a GM actually makes his team WORSE year over year than it is a dismal failure! If there was a grade worse than F he'd get it. He's been so bad that he may not even be aware Free Agency has started. Arizona and Seatle have both made significant strides forward. even the Rams are likely a better team now than at the end of last year. The Niners.... not so much...

Publicly stating that you "have a plan" but then waiting until all your own promising players are gone, signing only back ups and watching everyone else in the division get better, is ridiculous. I'd much rather have had Balke come out and say that this would be a rebuilding year, there was no money for FA's and that we'd focus on depth rather than marquis players. At least then my hopes wouldn't get crushed (again) this year.

Seattle and AZ had more to offer than SF.

Established coaching staffs.

Quality stadium.

Established FO.

In effect, by saying "we will not be big players in FA," he was saying this would be a year to "coach up" current talent and rebuild in areas where talent is not there.

From all reports, the 49ers were involved in attempting to bring in better FA players but were turned down. For example, when Burress got the call from Rex Ryan, he cancelled his flight to SF and went to NYC - he didn't even bother to come and listen to an offer. That should say a lot about how the franchise is viewed by players around the league.

Originally posted by 5280High:

Originally posted by Mookster:
Anytime that a GM actually makes his team WORSE year over year than it is a dismal failure! If there was a grade worse than F he'd get it. He's been so bad that he may not even be aware Free Agency has started. Arizona and Seatle have both made significant strides forward. even the Rams are likely a better team now than at the end of last year. The Niners.... not so much...

Publicly stating that you "have a plan" but then waiting until all your own promising players are gone, signing only back ups and watching everyone else in the division get better, is ridiculous. I'd much rather have had Balke come out and say that this would be a rebuilding year, there was no money for FA's and that we'd focus on depth rather than marquis players. At least then my hopes wouldn't get crushed (again) this year.

Lol, come back to reality. Getting rid of Sing and getting Harbaugh definitly made this team better. All these "promising" players you're talking about were nearing the end of their careers or had one solid year and cashed in on other teams willing to overpay.

Still haven't officially lost Lawson, Franklin or Goldson yet and there is still very solid starters on the FA market. This is the year for Kaep to sit and learn and the coaching staff knowing what their players can do in their new schemes. No reason to break the bank on players that may not even fit into the scheme after this year.

Harbaugh is definitely an improvement over Sing (and Nolan)...after all, he can't do any worse. However your "reality check" needs to look at what the team needs were at the end of last season (CB, pass rush OLB, QB, G) and what we've done to address those needs. We might have a solid OLB and the future QB from the draft but only time (and development) will tell. We're worse off at CB (no replacement for Clements), O-Line (no starting Center), MLB (lost Spikes and no depth behind Bowman) and we're possibly down on WR now with Crabtree on PUP. Other than coaching this team has taken a major step backwards due to Balke sitting on his hands/working his plan and losing/not upgrading the playing talent. Too bad Harbaugh et all don't go on to the field.

Originally posted by 24plus25er:
There are plenty of other teams who have been quiet in free agency: Colts, Cowboys, Bucs, Browns, the list goes on. We have re-signed Mcdonald, Franklin should be signed today, Gore is back in camp and obviously by letting guys like TKO, LaBoy, and Clements go, we have took a look at who we want and who we don't want. The FO said out top priority was to resign OUR GUYS and that we would not be major players in FA. If we sign Floyd, Rodgers, Kruetz, and one other guy who can contribute right away then I would say we had a quality off season. No need to brake the bank on sub par guys like Cromartie.

Hit the nail on the head. For anyone who pays any attention to the 49ers over the past 7 months, the only free agent they wanted was Harbaugh. They have been stating they were not going to be major players in FA this whole year. I am not sure why this is such a suprise to people.

In addition, all I have heard about free agents was "interest.". Has anyone mentioned what kind of contracts we offered? The extent of our "interest"? Whether or not the players had any intent of coming here?

I am okay with Baalke's approach so far. We do need to add another CB, but I would not be suprised if we are done in free agency and they just want to see what they have in the current roster.

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Mookster:
Anytime that a GM actually makes his team WORSE year over year than it is a dismal failure! If there was a grade worse than F he'd get it. He's been so bad that he may not even be aware Free Agency has started. Arizona and Seatle have both made significant strides forward. even the Rams are likely a better team now than at the end of last year. The Niners.... not so much...

Publicly stating that you "have a plan" but then waiting until all your own promising players are gone, signing only back ups and watching everyone else in the division get better, is ridiculous. I'd much rather have had Balke come out and say that this would be a rebuilding year, there was no money for FA's and that we'd focus on depth rather than marquis players. At least then my hopes wouldn't get crushed (again) this year.

Seattle and AZ had more to offer than SF. Like what? Money - don't think so not on a per target player basis anyways.

Established coaching staffs. No... rookie coaching staff we all HOPE (and expect) is better than the predecessor

Quality stadium. Not yet

Established FO. hmmm..... not sure I agree with this if Baalke doesn't turn things around

In effect, by saying "we will not be big players in FA," he was saying this would be a year to "coach up" current talent and rebuild in areas where talent is not there. The problem with this philosophy is that you are assuming the "talent" exists on the roster. Our weakest areas (QB, O-line, pass defense and QB pressure) were not addressed this offseason. If you believe that the starters were better than the back ups then your "coaching up" argument loses its credibility along with the starters who left (Baas, Spikes, Franklin, Lawson, Goldson, Clements etc). Hope is not an effective plan
From all reports, the 49ers were involved in attempting to bring in better FA players but were turned down. For example, when Burress got the call from Rex Ryan, he cancelled his flight to SF and went to NYC - he didn't even bother to come and listen to an offer. That should say a lot about how the franchise is viewed by players around the league. I absolutely agree with your last point. But would also add that every "plan" should have a contingency component. Didn't get Namdi? Who are the next 3 in line and what is the status of negotiations with them. Houston was brilliant in landing Joseph from Cincy as soon as they felt they weren't in the Namdi game. It appears that Baalke lacks the contingency plans to recover.