Guest Writer – James Jones

03.20.06 – The NFL off season is without a doubt the longest 8 months of my life… every, single, year. Needless to say, being as close as I am to the San Francisco 49ers makes that 8 months every year seem even longer than it really is. I have ventured on many attempts to conclude why this is the case however there seems to be no clear cut answer. Than I begin to speculate as to how a football, a game that is played by kids worldwide, could be such an enormous aspect of my life. How does one quantify the importance of football or any sport for that matter. The point is that there are many things in life that mean more to some then others.


Ask my wife what football means to her and she might tell you that it is the one facet of our life that consumes as much time as she does. Needless to say she would be right, although it is this time of year when it all hit’s a distinct lull. One that I know everyone here despises and simply wishes would go by faster then time will allow. Either way we are in this for the long haul, so buckle up and get ready for a long (and hopefully) eventful ride.

First let’s look at where we stand now. Several players have been lost since the end of last season, whether it was through free agency or the team simply letting them go, the 49ers will look a bit different this September when they take the field to kickoff the 2006 season. While the team has been relatively quiet (according to some) on the free agent front thus far, they have made some signings and are looking to reinforce the roster with others as the weeks come. While career backups such as Bryan Gilmore and Jason McAddley are with the team, there has been a serious uproar in certain circles at the lack of big name talent being pursued by the team. Even while there has been talk of free agent linebacker Julian Peterson being retained as well as other potential signings, nothing has come to fruition, save for WR Antonio Bryant being inked two weeks ago. Regardless of what the 49ers have or have not done since the Collective Bargaining Agreement was renewed and free agency finally began the fact remains that they need to do something more before training camp begins this July.

Resigning Julian Peterson: This could go either way and Mike Nolan has stated time and time again that no player will be bigger then the team. I believe this to be a quality philosophy, but one has to ask when does the team take a step to retain it’s most prized free agent, the same one it saw fit to make it’s franchise player the last two seasons? Whatever your take on Julian Peterson, to a man he helps this team on defense and should be retained; although this is looking increasingly doubtful as time goes on.

Peter Boulware: Alright this is another move that while would be good news for the locker room and defense in general most likely won’t take place. The former Raven has insinuated that he might retire and take a position with the Baltimore coaching ranks. Barring something special I don’t really see this happening.

Trade rumors: We have been hearing much buzz of trades that might take place, based on what other teams are trying to do. Barlow to Denver, Philadelphia is reportedly shopping DB Brian Dawkins for a combination of picks and a player, another has Denver looking to unload their two first round picks in this years draft for a high selection in the 2007 draft. While there is no credence to these stories as of yet, at least not where the 49ers are concerned, any of these could serve to assist the team in the coming season.

The off season is far from over, as I mentioned about, and while I expect the team to make more moves I do not expect an overwhelming amount of activity. This is based no doubt on Paraag Marathes “Billy Bean, Moneyball” strategy, which by the way has no place within the realm of the National Football League, makes it almost a certainty. Allow me to elaborate on this if you will, see baseball is a completely different sport then football. I know what you are saying now, “No kidding Jones, now get the hell outta here” But let me explain. See the reason that moneyball works in baseball is because, simply put it can. A team fields nine players per game, over any given nine innings, a sub par left fielder might go through a game and only see a ball hit to him twice a game. The ball is in the air, the player gets under it, the player makes the catch. Ok well what about offense right? Well even if a guy can’t hit the ball for average or power, there is at least one other man on the team who can and will. Also there are 164 games in a single baseball season, football has but 16 this fact alone should make it apparent that this philosophy wont work. Looking a little deeper you can see… putting a sub par linebacker on the outside of a 3-4 defense and chances are your defense is going to be torched on that side of the ball all game long.

I am well aware of teams such as New England and Philadelphia taking the approach of not going crazy in free agency and letting players who demand higher salaries leave to other teams, however the glaring difference is that the 49ers have no one in the mold of a Tom Brady or Donovan McNabb. This team was so devoid of talent last season that it is going to be required to find some… anywhere.

I was listening to The Opening Drive on the Sirius NFL station the other day and Randy Cross said that if the 49ers resign Peterson that he feels it would be their last free agent signing as it would cost as much as people are predicting. Then he went on to say that he does not see them doing it anyway based on the fact that in their eyes paying as much does not match up to the statistics he has put up recently. It is a well known fact that Julian has not been playing on a Pro Bowl level as of late, but there are other things that cannot be measured by stats alone. Locker room presence and leadership are a few of them. One thing that I can say beyond the shadow of a doubt is that if he is on this team come July, look for him to take an increased role of leading this defense and taking his game where he needs to. If he is not on the team in July then look for him to do the very same, just watch him do it for someone else. One more thing remember what you read here, no matter where Peterson plays this season he will return to All-Pro form and it is my sincere hope that he does it in Red and Gold