Why don’t the 49ers go out and get . . . ?

I know I’m covering old ground here, but I still get a ton of emails from 49ers fans about quarterbacks Jeff Garcia and Jay Cutler.

Why haven’t the 49ers gone after Jeff Garcia? Clearly, Mike Singletary does not like ruling out the possibility of acquiring anybody. But he kind of did that with Garcia.

 

“When I look at Shaun Hill, I think he did a great job last year,” Singletary said recently. “I’m not sure how much better we get by bringing in a Jeff Garcia and adding to the mix when you have a guy like Shaun Hill.”

 

What about Cutler?

 

There is reason for the 49ers to be interested in Cutler. But what do the 49ers have to offer in return that would convince the Broncos they’re upgrading their QB position by getting rid of Cutler?

 

The Broncos have stated Cutler is not on the trade block. New coach Josh McDaniels might have preferred Matt Cassel to Cutler. But with Cassel now with the Chiefs, why would McDaniels want to get rid of a quarterback unless he has somebody better ready to step in?

 

* * *

 

The 49ers tried to claim Bruce Gradkowski off waivers awhile back. They made a spirited run at Kurt Warner before he opted to take less money to re-sign with the Cardinals. The 49ers then signed veteran Damon Huard.

 

There is no reason for the 49ers to sign another veteran QB, unless he is clearly going to be the starter. I think the 49ers will be interested in adding a quarterback via the draft, but I don’t believe it will be with the No. 10 overall pick.

 

* * *

 

The 49ers are showing no interest “right now” in former Rams tackle Orlando Pace or receiver Torry Holt, who is on the trade block. Holt will likely be released by next week if the Rams can’t find a trade partner.

 

* * *

 

I do not have the details on Alex Smith’s new contract, but a league source told me he is pretty certain it averages around $3 million a year over the two years. That would be similar to deals done recently for backup quarterbacks Jon Kitna and Dan Orlovsky.

 

It’s not known how Smith’s contract is structured, but if his base salary was lowered from $9.625 million to around $3 million, it would save the 49ers around $6.5 million in salary-cap space.

 

Shaun Hill, who is competing with Smith for the starting job, has $1.8 million in incentives he can earn the next two seasons. Smith’s deal contains incentives that could reach a little more than $2 million per season, the source said. Those incentives are not known, but they are believed to be more difficult to reach than Hill’s incentives.

 

In addition to his adjusted contract, Smith will receive payments of $4 million the next two seasons. This money is a carryover from his previous contract as part of a deferred guarantee bonus. This is not new money, and it has already counted against the salary cap. He would have received that money even if he were not with the team.

 

* * *

Comments are closed.