49ers sign WR Keshawn Martin

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers have signed wide receiver Keshawn Martin to a two-year deal, according to Rand Getlin.

Martin spent the first three seasons of his career with the Texans where he started two games and caught just one touchdown pass. Last season, he started eight games for the Patriots and caught just eight passes for 92 yards. He probably won’t be active for the Niners on game days.

What do you think of this signing? How long before the Niners release this guy?

This article has 91 Comments

    1. Niners should poach DeAndrew White from the Patriots, or Kenny Lawler from the Seahawks. White used to be a Niner, and could help return punts and kickoffs. He was in camp all the way to the 53 cutdown, so he knows the routes, and has caught passes from both Gabbert and Kaep.

      Lawler was very productive at Cal, and either player will give good intel on an upcoming opponent. Posters and pundits have ignored the implications that Garrison Smith bring to the discussion. Looked like the Seahawks knew the plays as well as the Niners did. Garrison Smith spilled his guts, and he knew exactly where to be because he was involved in 4 tackles. He not only gave away the playbook, he divulged tendencies. He also gave them a firsthand account of the locker room dynamics.

      Niners may be too stingy to promise to pay a player for at least 3 games, but I consider that a good return on the investment. I think they would be an upgrade, and when they have 44 mil in cap space, going cheap is obtuse.

  1. I think it’s a direct result of an inept wide receiver evaluator who’s in desperation mode a couple years too late….

  2. HOW BAD IS 49er Coaching and talent evaluating?

    On Michael’s 2nd TD, 5th Rd pick, TE, Luke Wilson from Rice, Chip blocked Deforest Buckner, then gets to the 2nd level and takes out Jimmy Ward, who was cleared from his ILB position Oneil had him playing.

    Meanwhile, LB, Bowman, lined up outside the OT position as if he were a blitzing safety looked confused on the play and just stood there.

    https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=seattle+vs.+san+francisco+2016&sh=0

    Ward, not used to the ILB spot was not expecting the blindside TE block—if it looked like 2 players playing out of position, it was–brilliant, O’neil, you fooled yourself, not Seattle with you unclever alignment.

    Reply

    *By the way, the spot Ward was cleared from was precisely the spot Seattle chose to run into. Clever play, great scouting by the ‘Hawks.

    1. Since Oneil was Baalke’s pick as DC, all that’s happening with this latest WR signing is proof that WR’s on the street are better than Baalke’s draft picks…Brilliant, Jed.

      Anyone have a Tylenol?

  3. There must have been a serious disconnect during the interview process with Kelly. I mean he had to have seen the roster and film on some of the guys he would be working with to know who could do what.
    Or is this a matter of Baalke saying, theses are your groceries, cook something up and deal with it?
    Either way, the WR and QB position should have been addressed in the offseason and not with 4-6th round draft picks. You had 11 picks, all high in each round and over 44 million to spend, what the H-E- double hockey stick were they thinking!

    1. No question, Baalke has failed when it comes to evaluating, drafting, and signing WR’s. A.J. Jenkins was an absolute disaster. And Trent simply hasn’t made WR enough of a priority despite the fact that everyone recognizes it’s a passing league. Baalke simply hasn’t been up to the task when it comes to acquiring offensive playmakers.

      That said, without making excuse for his failures, they have been magnified by some good old fashion “buzzard’s luck”.

      I have to remind people that Bruce Ellington was a highly regarded slot receiver and return man coming out of SC. There were a number of highly respected scouts who had very high grades on Ellington as a potential slot receiver and kick returner, coming out of college. And this is also a guy who didn’t have a history of injuries in college, despite being a 2 sport athlete. Bruce has certainly flashed some big time talent, but his inability to stay healthy has been really hard to understand.

      Baalke also signed CFL star WR Eric Rogers this offseason. Rogers is a very smooth athlete and certainly has the size to be a favorable matchup for the 49ers, combined with the hands to be a productive NFL WR, if he hadn’t suffered his ACL tear during training camp.

      It’s clear to anyone who’s been watching Gabbert work with his receivers, that he hasn’t had enough time to develop chemistry with guys like Kerley and Streeter. But I highly doubt it’s going to make a whole lot of difference moving forward this season because this team simply doesn’t have enough talent at WR to move the chains effectively. And Blaine Gabbert’s lack of confidence and utter inability to challenge defensive backfields with his arm is simply magnifying the stark, talentless void this team has at receiver, including a uninspiring group of tight ends, and I don’t see any significant changes in store for the 49ers offense this season.

      I’ve got 5 suggestions, in order, as to where I would concentrate priorities this offseason in:

      1) FIRE TRENT BAALKE and promote Tom Gamble
      2) Draft a franchise QB to build an offense around
      3a) Make the receiving corps 3rd highest priority after GM & QB
      3b) Make a concerted effort to get bigger at WR
      5) Invest in another pass rushing OLB

  4. NFL Power Rankings: Dallas Cowboys

    Washington Post: #8
    CBS Sports: #9

    Dak Prescott is a rookie QB and Dallas is still a top 10 team, while we can’t develop starting QB’s , their backups or find WR’s. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then, making his percentage higher than Baalke’s in drafting the skill positions above.

  5. I think Balke was instructed not to spend money this last off season. I believe he was told that if his draft picks do not develop he would be gone. Hence the promotion for Gamble as assistant GM.. Kelly knows there is going to be a change. Next year they will have over 60 mil to play with. It’s makes sense. A season for Kelly to evaluate these players. Why no resigning of current young players such as Lynch, Ward, Reid, Hyde…. The only person they resigned was Tank for very little… I think Balke is a goner and he knows it.

    1. Yeah. Baalke is this years fall guy. Chip is next years fall guy. Then it will be Gamble, the year after it will be Chips successor and so on. The constant through all of this is Jed. He won’t spend, he will continue to make tons of money off of the stadium. Denise has to sell the team or we will have 2 to 7 wins indefinitely. Denise was embarrassed by the banners last year. We all know Jed sucks. It is time to go over his head. Hold Denise accountable.

    2. Raw, I hope you are right.

      This latest move seems desperate. Rearranging the chairs on the Titanic.

      1. Seb, Balke is gone… Too much public pressure on the Niners organization.. It’s going to get ugly…

        1. I beg to differ. Even with the 2 game losing streak, I am still optimistic. Those 2 games were considered losses, and if they can win the next 2, they would be 3-2, and in good position. The schedule gets easier after that, but teams like Buffalo and Atlanta are looking more formidable.

          I am optimistic, because Baalke is powerless to stop Kaep from playing. Gabbert was his ace in the hole, but he turned up a deuce. Kaep, now that he is healthy, can make those easy throws. He will also make those jaw dropping throws, and make Chip look like a genius.

          Kaep will also make the DC’s have nightmares, because he is a threat to go all the way every time he touches the ball. Kaep can elude the linemen with ease, but he can not only out run the line backers, he can out run the safeties.

          Many will say that Kaep has lost it and will never be good again, but we will never know until he gets back on the field. It will be all the more sweeter to shut down the nay sayers. I have faith in Kaep, and in the right system, he will be able to lead the Niners to victories again.

          Baalke, with all the obstructionism and obstinate dissing of Kaep, is a dead man walking. He has smeared him and stabbed him in the back, asked him to take a pay cut and threatening to trade him up until the draft. Baalke wrote that team friendly deal, getting him to sign for less, after promising to retain veteran talent, then reneging. Now they are worried that they will have to pay Kaep if he is injured. That is like treating him like he is a piece of meat.

          The defense will learn from their mistakes. I hope they get back to playing Niner Football. Maybe they should hire Patrick Willis and Cowboy as additional coaches. Heck, bring back Tomsula. He would be better than O’Neil.

          Even if the Niners start winning, I will credit Chip for the turnaround. Baalke, with his opposition to Kaep, is expendable. Jed should kick him upstairs into the contracts and financials section, and let Gamble handle all the personnel department.

          Chip should just turn Kaep loose, and everyone will be happy. Well, maybe not the haters, but us fans will rejoice to see the Niners become relevant again.

          1. Seb – Being optimistic with Baalke is a 15 yard penalty with loss of down. It’s one or the other.

            1. No, no I meant that the Niners could win the Super Bowl and I would give all credit to Chip, and none to Baalke.

  6. On Rotoworld (Maiocco Twitter)”

    49ers CB Jimmie Ward (quad) is week to week.
    It’s actually good news after Ward went down in non-contact fashion. Keith Reaser will likely start in his absence.

  7. This assessment of our WR corps sounds about right. On Rotoworld as well:

    49ers signed WR/PR Keshawn Martin to a two-year contract.
    The 49ers have the league’s most embarrassing receiver corps, but Martin’s contributions should remain limited to special teams.

  8. Everyone joked about Seattle’s OL last week who made Baalke’s 2 top 10 linemen, Buckner and Armstead the butt of the joke.

    Far different story this week with Ezekiel Elliot and Dallas’ group of OL ProBowlers coming to town!

    1. The funny thing about Dallas knowing Kelly’s signals is they still lost 3 out of 6 games against the Eagles.

  9. The Kelly offense:

    Option 1. Teams ignore the edge and dare Gabbert to run.

    Option 2. Teams set the edge and dare Kaepernick to throw.

    1. That’s Actually Funny–Need to send it to Philly.Com

      Can you think of one for O’neil who Cleveland fans took up a bus fare donation to ride him out of town?

      1. Maybe we could go with “The 3 Headed Monster.”

        Baalke, O’neil and Kelly.

        Real NFL teams think of this as Montana , Rice , Craig or
        Aikman, Irvin, Smith

  10. I still dont get why you wouldnt bring up Marcus Rush and let him try and get to the QB. Harold and Tank get 0 pressure. Watch someone claim him and him play decent. Perfect scenario for the FO

    1. Rush has his weaknesses but I too would like to see him play this week. If he is no good, oh well Lynch will be back the following week. My concern would be that O”Neil wouldn’t use him right. Rush and Skov are potential play makers. Once we are out of contention they will get plenty of snaps.

  11. I get the frustration over the way the team has lost, but they aren’t firing Kelly anytime soon. Going through multiple Coaches gets you no where, and York is still on the hook for Tomsula as well. If you didn’t like the hiring of Kelly that’s fine, but he’s the guy for at least the next 2-3 years, and while I personally wasn’t overly enamored with the decision, I do want to see what Kelly can do with more talented players who fit his system.

    1. That’s fair Rocket. I personally hated the hire and would have fired him after the Seattle game because of the bad play calling and lack of effort against a division rival. But I think Chip will get at least two seasons. He won’t get any weapons through free agency like Alshon because Jed is a penny pincher and will handcuff any GM. This team is doomed as long as Denise and Jed are involved.

    2. I agree in principle, Rocket. But we don’t know the terms of the employment contract for Kelly do we? It’s possible that there might be an “out” clause costing a relatively modest amount.

      Still, like I’ve been saying since January, Jed said Kelly would be here for years, but didn’t say that about Baalke. I still believe Baalke goes first.

      1. Cubus,

        Coaching contracts are pretty standard. Fully guaranteed with any earnings as a Coach after firing being subtracted from the amount remaining.

        I agree (hope) that Baalke will be fired before Kelly. The question is will that be after this season?

        1. And the fact that Jed said that Kelly will be around for a long time is supported by the standard contract. As you’ve said a number of times, there is no way Jed is going to be paying three HCs at the same time. He already looks foolish enough.

  12. Baalke and the Niners can sign any body they want at WR, but Gabbert still has to get them the ball. To be successful, the receivers the Niners have or those who they may sign, have to have a huge catch radius to be able to corral those scatter shot throws from Gabbert. Yards after the catch are a virtual impossibility with his erratic throws. Receivers need first basemen’s gloves on their shoes and butterfly nets as extensions of their arms. Lucky that Shaun Draughn did not have to go into concussion protocol after getting doinked in the helmet by a Gabbert throw! What a piece of work. After all, as a starting QB at Missouri, he completed only 31% of his passes which traveled 10 yards or more past the line of scrimmage. Wonder who the Phi Beta Kappa scouts were in the NFL who thought Gabbert suddenly would find accuracy in the NFL?

    1. So I’m still unclear about that play where Gabbert beaned Draughn. That’s a timing play isn’t it. Isn’t it very likely that the ball would be in the air before Draughn turns around to catch it. If you counter with BG gets the ball out too quickly, I can’t really argue that, but Draughn might have been at fault too.

      If Brady or Rodgers did that everyone would blame the RB. When you have a team like ours, it’s just one more indicator that this team is lacking talent at all of the key positions on offense.

      1. I think Gabbert felt pressure and threw the ball too early cubus. Or Gabbert saw that Wagner had diagnosed the play and got the ball out early. Have you listened to Greg Kosell’s thoughts on Kelly’s offense from Monday? Its helpful.

      2. OK. I just saw a replay from the side. Draughn did turn around but the ball was thrown behind him and bonked him on the head. Had it been thrown further in front of Draughn and probably a bit lower he might make the catch except that Wagner was there to clobber him. From the side you can clearly see that number 56 has beaten Trent Brown and is on top of Gabbert, so he probably did release the ball a tad early.

            1. Cubus I saw the clip thanks, CK would have gotten blamed along with about 20 other QB’s on this. I still think BG is way off target and think he’s earlier than the QB RB expects. What we know for sure is that its either BG or SD who messed this up. I think your first response is more accurate, BG feels pressure throws the ball just a tad to early and behind SD. I am no coach or expert. Seattle is tough on QB’s. Even if its a timing throw its to a guy that has no chance to do anything with it. On that I give no grace to BG for throwing the ball to there.

  13. Rocket,

    The league figured Kelly out in Philly. and the question asked, did he adjust and evolve the offense in a such a way that his offense was not predicable for aposing DCs.
    In these last few games that has not been the case. When looking at the film, the defense is not surprissed by the passing game and how many times can a team run the same play over and over, no wonder the run game sucks.

    1. Could be hacksaw, but I have yet to see the Kelly offense that was in Philly. Even after supposedly getting figured out, that offense was still pretty good.

  14. Well, you heard it here first. I think they should fire O’Neil and let Tomsula be the DC. Tomsula was a big part of those JH defenses so he does know defense. He should stay far away from offenses, but Chip has that covered.

    Jed is paying him anyways, so why not? I would love to see Tomsula doing what he does best, and what he loves. I would also kick Baalke upstairs first so he is out of the way, but it would help Jed atone for leaking that he would be fired before that last game.

    It is just my opinion. Feel free to ignore this.

    1. The opposing defenses have our offense covered not Chip. He refuses to adapt. He is not an offensive genius and his OC has no say in play calling. What do I expect Sunday? Run up the middle on 1st down, run up the middle on 2nd down, and pass short of the sticks on 3rd down. Chip=predictable.

      1. I think Niners come out Sunday and win. I think Chip becomes more aggressive on first and second down. Niners Win 27-17! Gabbert plays well…

        1. I hope you’re right Rebuild. Chip has to mix things up. Will he though? He believes in his system even though he doesn’t have the personnel to run it effectively. He doesn’t make adjustments because he is too stubborn.

          1. Niners play a lot better at home. Dallas is not impressive to me. Dak has been soild but nothing special. Same with Zeke. Dez could be out too. I think adjustments will be made. A new system takes time. We’ll see. I’m taking a different approach. Trying to be optimistic for once. Tired of bagging these guys. Let’s turn this around its still early.

  15. George posted this yesterday. Did any of you listen to it? Kosell makes some interesting statements about Kelly’s offense. One of the KNBR guys asks if BG is getting beyond his first read? Kosell says that’s not how this offense is designed. He also said this offense worked in Philly because of the speed they had on offense and its not working here because we don’t have that. Its a though provoking listen.

    http://www.49ers.com/video/audio/Greg-Cosell-Analyzes-Gabberts-Outing-in-Seattle/6d99e957-851b-4a6b-9808-475aebf95314

  16. Being a die hard faithful Niner fan, there is something in my DNA that intensely dislikes the blue and silver. The cowgirls are their only redeeming feature.

    How can they stop the run game? Maybe start Dial Purcell and Dorsey. Sit Tank, and start Harold. Sit Hodges and start Skov. Put Johnson on their tallest receiver. Start Tartt if he is fully healthy and bring in Bethea for nickle situations.

    On offense, let Kaep play. Stop sheathing their most powerful weapon. Start accentuating their positives and disguising their weaknesses. I dare Chip to run an I formation. They need to be more deceptive, and unpredictable. They should take a page out of the Bill Walsh playbook and script the first 15 plays.

    I said that they should spread them wide, then gash them up the middle. Seahawks did that exact play on the third play from scrimmage when Michael ran for 41 yards. Niners should copy that play.

    I hope the Niners win 24-23. Predicted the same score twice before, so hopefully, the third time is the charm.

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