And then there were none. The San Francisco 49ers officially signed the last of their unsigned rookies on Friday night and the second of their first-round selections. Guard Joshua Garnett signed his four-year contract with the team. The signing will make Garnett available for the team's training camp, which kicks off this weekend.
Proud to announce I am officially a #49er ! Thank you #ninerempire for your patience, Let's roll ! pic.twitter.com/3sRqIFU4oH
— Joshua Garnett (@IamJoshG) July 30, 2016
Thanks to the 2011 CBA, all rookie contracts are now for a length of four years with teams having an option to pick up a fifth year option for each of their first-round selections. Having set numbers for each spot eliminates the need to negotiate salary and only leaves items like bonus payment terms, roster bonus allocations, and other miscellaneous structural items, which is likely what held up Garnett's deal for so long.
While Garnett has participated in the 49ers' offseason program, he had to miss the early portions due to NFL rules that prohibit rookies from participating in offseason work until their school's senior class has finished their terms.
The 49ers traded back into the first round to select Garnett out of Stanford with the 28th overall selection. Garnett was the 2015 John Outland Trophy Winner, an award given to the most outstanding interior lineman of the year. He is expected to compete for the starting job at right guard and was considered to be the best run blocker in this year's draft. However, one aspect of Garnett's game that has been repeatedly criticized is his pass blocking. "He's solid in pass protection, though it's unlikely that he'll be one of the league's best in this area," said advanced statistics site Pro Football Focus in a scouting report prior to the draft.
While Pro Football Focus projected Brandon Thomas as the team's starter at right guard, the 49ers likely moved back into the first round of the draft to select Garnett with the intention of making him the starter right away. The job will likely be Garnett's to lose.
The signing means that the 49ers' 2016 rookie draft class now consumes over $9.6 million in salary cap space for the upcoming season and a potential investment of over $51.2 million for the length of their combined rookie contracts.
San Diego Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa now remains as the only unsigned first rounder from the entire 2016 draft class.
The 49ers report to training camp on Saturday and the first team practice will take place on Sunday.
Below was the projected contract for Garnett, per salary cap site Spotrac.com. However, his actually contract may differ ever so slightly.
Round 1, Pick 28
Total Value: $9,304,311
Signing Bonus: $4,966,772
2016 Cap: $1,691,693
