How much to pay Iupati?

Originally posted by synigod:

I don't see why we cannot trade him before the draft. I would think we could possibly get a late first or second from a team. He's a very good player and deserves more than we can pay him. Obviously this leaves a large hole at LG but with Looney and probably drafting another guard, I think we can make do. I would prefer we sign him but we have had pretty decent success drafting linemen of late.

I dont think we trade him. That would weaken our line and hurt our super bowl chances. He will walk after next year. Hopefully he goes into free agency with a super bowl title on his resume.

i dont think we have much of a choice, do you guys want Snyder starting at guard? Our O-line was a gaping chasm with him in there. Looney hasnt impressed at all, so unless someone steps up Iupati will have plenty of leverage. I like our O-line the way it is, we need a new center, but the pass pro has improved every single year.
This is still an elite unit and without Iupati its simply not.

I say make Iupati a fair offer during the season like we did with Bowman, If the guaranteed money is fair he wont test FA. I think he knows this team is a good fit for him considering how much we run the football, on most teams he wouldnt look nearly as good.

He's already price out of our range plus I'd like to see up get a screen game going. That was something Lattimore excelled at in college.

Play out the contract then goodbye. Will get a 3rd round comp. Rebuild through draft.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
Draft Spencer Long late in the draft, redshirt for 2014, allow him to learn the system. Draft another guard in the 2015 draft, early on if needby. Iupati is a great player but a luxury at this point, can't make a strong argument for retaining Iupati over Aldon, Crabtree or Kaepernick. Long will go from a likely 2nd rounder to a late round draft pick, he's perfectly capable of stepping in as a starter in 2015 after taking 2014 and recovering from his ACL injury.

Yep !
I liked him a lot before the injury. If can get him late thats a steal. We need that money for other players !

I don't know if I like what I'm reading. Some of you seem to think it's some position that we can just put whoever in there and it'll be ok. If that is so easy then why'd we draft him in the first round and why would another team give him a ton of money in free agency? This is a pro bowl player were talking about who is coming into the prime of his career. It's just not about him, it's about having a strong offensive line. There's no such thing as a good team without a good o line. We need to let this play out, this guy was born to be a 49er.

As much as I'd ate to see Iupati go - it seems inevitable because of who else we have to resign.

Some guys to look at:

Gabe Jackson 6'4" 335 - Mississippi State

Dakota Dozier - Furman

Brandon Linder - Miami

Also FA - Geoff Schwartz 6'6", 340 - OLine experience - RT/LG/RG

Originally posted by T-9ers:

I don't know if I like what I'm reading. Some of you seem to think it's some position that we can just put whoever in there and it'll be ok. If that is so easy then why'd we draft him in the first round and why would another team give him a ton of money in free agency? This is a pro bowl player were talking about who is coming into the prime of his career. It's just not about him, it's about having a strong offensive line. There's no such thing as a good team without a good o line. We need to let this play out, this guy was born to be a 49er.

It's certainly not a foregone conclusion that he is going to leave (especially with this front office), but reality is painful and we have several big name players we need to try and resign in the next year or two, Kap, Aldon, Crabtree. We know that a good O-line is critical, but with the salary cap you have to pick your poison sometimes.

Originally posted by T-9ers:
I don't know if I like what I'm reading. Some of you seem to think it's some position that we can just put whoever in there and it'll be ok. If that is so easy then why'd we draft him in the first round and why would another team give him a ton of money in free agency? This is a pro bowl player were talking about who is coming into the prime of his career. It's just not about him, it's about having a strong offensive line. There's no such thing as a good team without a good o line. We need to let this play out, this guy was born to be a 49er.

This is people realizing because of the salary cap there it's not likely that we keep our QB, WR, OLB, and LG when you already have sizeable contracts for Bowman, Willis, Brooks, Davis, Staley, Boone, etc. It's just not sustainable. When we drafted him, we needed o-line help badly and didn't have as many guys on big deals. Times have changed. It will not be easy to truly replace his production, but based off of what we've seen people are more comfortable replacing a guard than they are replacing a receiver. It's also the reason some people in their mocks are taking a guard as high as the second round, so by no means are they undervaluing what Iupati brings to the table.

if he goes , then maybe we should consider drafting another guard for depth , I'm sure Looney will take the spot if Mike leaves

Iupati had too many "off days" and missed playing time for me to fret about where he's going. I'm more interested in who is going to take his place.

to be honest pretty much anything he wants, in reason... he's to young and good not to keep,

Originally posted by AZ9erfan520:

Originally posted by synigod:
I don't see why we cannot trade him before the draft. I would think we could possibly get a late first or second from a team. He's a very good player and deserves more than we can pay him. Obviously this leaves a large hole at LG but with Looney and probably drafting another guard, I think we can make do. I would prefer we sign him but we have had pretty decent success drafting linemen of late.

I dont think we trade him. That would weaken our line and hurt our super bowl chances. He will walk after next year. Hopefully he goes into free agency with a super bowl title on his resume.

He then becomes a Goldson, where the Niners could get a 3rd round compensatory pick a year later. I say let him play out his contract and then get third round compensation. Better than losing him a year early for maybe a second rounder.

Originally posted by T-9ers:
I don't know if I like what I'm reading. Some of you seem to think it's some position that we can just put whoever in there and it'll be ok. If that is so easy then why'd we draft him in the first round and why would another team give him a ton of money in free agency? This is a pro bowl player were talking about who is coming into the prime of his career. It's just not about him, it's about having a strong offensive line. There's no such thing as a good team without a good o line. We need to let this play out, this guy was born to be a 49er.

I mean, obviously everyone would prefer he stayed, that said, the 49ers can't keep everyone, its financially impossible, so if you retain Iupati, who do you let walk? Aldon? Crabtree? Kaepernick? Several other players such as Culliver, Hunter...etc?


Replacing a guard is easier than replacing a #1 WR, a franchise QB or a beastly pass-rushing OLB.

Offer him $5M to $5 1/2M in an extension this year and if he doesn't take it let him go after the season. We can go after a pup list guy like Spencer Long this season and we could even draft a rookie next season as well in the 2nd round and let them compete for the job. That would give us a starter and depth.