Originally posted by Born49R:
Originally posted by NinerBuff:I'm betting the FO has Larry Grant in the wings in case we can't sign Bowman so I'm not too worried about that. Replacing Smith is another story, and not going to be easy.
It depends on how much we will lose when Justin Smith finally starts to decline. He's the only guy I can see that will start showing his age. And I think it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to sign Bowman once his rookie contract expires. The money would be better spent on Aldon Smith, IMO. I think Bowman is a very good ILB, but he benefited greatly from playing in our system and our excellent front 7.
Exactly. Grant played incredibly well in place of Patrick Willis last year. The smart decision is to lock Grant up with a long-term deal this year/next year.