Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Vinny Cerrato, the former director of player personnel for the San Francisco 49ers, joined Chad, Joe & Lo on
95.7 The Game Tuesday morning to discuss numerous topics from around the NFL and some that were related to the 49ers.
Trent Baalke and the Hot Seat
One of those topics that he touched upon was whether or not 49ers general manager Trent Baalke should be worried about his job heading into the 2016 season.
On Monday, it was announced that the 49ers had
promoted Tom Gamble to assistant general manager. Prior to that, he had a role as a senior personnel executive. Gamble returned to the organization in January of 2015 after two years with the Philadelphia Eagles as their vice president of personnel. Before his time in Philadelphia, Gamble spent eight seasons with the 49ers within their personnel department, ending that stint as the team's director of player personnel from 2011 through 2012.
"Tom Gamble, he's a quality football guy – comes from a football background and he's a good guy," said Cerrato. "So it all depends on if ... did Trent promote Tom or did the owner promote Tom? If I'm Trent and the owner promoted Tom – and maybe only Trent knows who promoted who – but I'd be nervous if I was Trent.
"Trent's very stubborn. He's a hard worker and all that, but he's very stubborn and he wants to do it his way or the highway so a lot of times, that's very difficult. If you're stubborn, a lot of times it's hard for you to learn and Trent's a very smart guy.
"So I would say this: If Jed York promoted Tom Gamble, Trent needs to keep his head on a swivel."
Anthony Davis
Cerrato was also asked about
Anthony Davis filing for reinstatement to the NFL, the 49ers, and whether or not the team would look to keep or trade him.
Cerrato responded by saying, "It all depends on this: How good does he look when he comes back? Because here's what teammates are going to do. If he can help us win, they'll bring him back in a hurry. Y'know, the players in the locker room will. And players know first if a guy can help or not help after just a couple of days of practice. So, if they reinstate and they see that he can help, yeah, he'll be back in and with Trent, y'know, Trent can do two things. He can bring him back in, see how he looks, and if he doesn't look great, try to trade him or if he look good and you want to still get rid of the headache, then he becomes more valuable. You're going to have to play him in a couple of preseason games just to showcase him because – think about it – everybody always needs offensive lineman."
Cerrato went on to say that the decision to keep or get rid of Davis has to be a club decision and not just a decision made by either Chip Kelly or Trent Baalke. There has to be communication between the coaching staff and Baalke on whether or not Davis can help the team or not.
"They're not good enough anymore where they can turn away good players," said Cerrato. "They need to have every good player that they can get. I think it's got to be a group decision."
Best Quarterback Fit for Kelly
There has been some debate on which quarterback,
Blaine Gabbert or
Colin Kaepernick, is a better fit for Chip Kelly and his offense. Cerrato touched on that topic as well.
"To me, it's got to be the guy who's going to make quick decisions," said Cerrato. "It's got to be the guy who's not going to turn the ball over for you. It's got to be the guy who's not going to get you beat. You need somebody that can help you win. Who is going to make the fewest amount of mistakes?"
Cerrato concluded by asking, "Who's going to be the most efficient? That's who is going to be the starter for them."
Cerrato was with the 49ers for nine seasons, starting as a scout in 1991. In 1995, he was promoted to director of player personnel.
You can
listen to the entire interview here on
95.7 The Game with the portion about the 49ers starting at about the 3:45 mark.
The San Francisco 49ers had a significant change this offseason, letting go of several key starters, such as Mike McGlinchey and Jimmie Ward, who earned lucrative multi-year deals elsewhere.
That left the 49ers with a void at the right tackle position, where the team didn't add any significant talent in free agency or the NFL Draft, meaning that Colton McKivitz is the odds-on favorite to be the starter at the position.
Speaking to the media for the first time this offseason, offensive line coach Chris Foerster praised the swing tackle, pointing out his value in spot duty and that it's McKivitz's job to lose, which should help build his confidence in a crucial year.
"Colton, he's done a great job for us through the years he's been here,"
The San Francisco 49ers are entangled in yet another quarterback controversy, with Brock Purdy at the forefront of the talk due to a UCL injury that he sustained during the team's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Given the rarity of the injury to a quarterback in the NFL, the 49ers have stressed caution on Purdy's recovery timetable, while expressing optimism about his return by the beginning of the season.
Speaking with former NFL offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, respected sports medicine doctor Jess Flynn, who has worked with NFL teams, shared that the 49ers should expect Purdy to return to his former self once back from injury.
"When he does come back, studies show that you should expect a similar level of play compared to before the
There is no tougher task for a defensive lineman than going against San Francisco 49ers tackle Trent Williams, a 10-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time first-team All-Pro. Luckily for 49ers defenders, Williams sat out much of this week's mandatory minicamp. That will change once the rigors of training camp begin at the end of next month.
Observing from the sideline has allowed Williams to evaluate the 49ers' prized offseason addition, defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. What are the offensive lineman's early impressions?
"I hadn't seen him play (this offseason), but we got enough of him back in [the NFC Championship Game]," Williams told reporters on Wednesday. "But we know what he can do, and I was ecstatic that we ain't got to see him on the other sideline again.
The 49ers ended their offseason workout program on Wednesday with their final session of mandatory minicamp. But before they made their way out the door for the summer, the team gave fans and reporters one last dose of info in the form of the final media sessions of the spring.
Among those speaking to reporters on Wednesday were defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, left tackle Trent Williams and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, as well as defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. Each session produced some interesting tidbits, which we'll review in this version of 49ers notebook.
Hargrave speaks
Despite being the splash free agent addition of the offseason for the 49ers, Javon Hargrave had not met with the team's beat reporters in person before Wednesday.
