A deal is done with Alex Smith / 49ers increased offer from previous deal by $1M gtd

[Bemular]

This guy makes it really hard to root against him. He says all the right things.

I could not agree more. As a person, I think he is the real deal - one of the good guys.

 

[Ray_Dogg]

Only $9Mill GTD for Alex. MM just said on live webcast. It is basically a 1 year $9M deal. We can cut him after the season.

 

[TobyTyler]

I could not agree more. As a person, I think he is the real deal - one of the good guys.

Agreed. And it would be cool if he took the Niners to the Super Bowl and the Broncos flopped.

 

[TobyTyler]

Only $9Mill GTD for Alex. MM just said on live webcast. It is basically a 1 year $9M deal. We can cut him after the season.

Here's to hoping we won't want to.

 

[Bemular]

Agreed. And it would be cool if he took the Niners to the Super Bowl and the Broncos flopped.

That is not at all out of the realm of possibility. I'm sure somewhere in Vegas there is a line on how many games Manning will start and games he will win in '12

 

[deep9er]

I guess I never remembered DK as being such an Alex downer before the Manning thing, but I haven't been paying attention I guess. A reasonable downer that is (not a hater). I don't think the Niners would have been semi-aggressive with obtaining receivers this offseason if they weren't trying to get more aggressive with the play-calling. I don't think that we're simply trying to increase the completion percentage, but rather open things up, take some more shots down the field, and give the defense something to think about.

I honestly think this Manning thing will do what Singletary/Nolan could never do. I think the pressure before on Alex was negative pressure with less coaching. This chip on the shoulder is a positive chip on the shoulder, not a prohibitive one, and this one comes with the manual. I know Smith will not become a Favre, but I fully expect him to take shots, as much as a Harbaugh offense does, and I never thought that before. Under Nolan/Singletary and last year, I knew we weren't going to be vertical at all. I agree that this year we will not be Green Bay in efficiency of deep passes, but I don't think Smith will be "exposed."

Alex will be more comfortable and knowledgable of the system. He has improved overall every year he's been in the league, with the 2007 year being mixed due to the injury (and obviously I'm not talking about 2008). Not only stat-wise, but in seeing the field, footwork, etc. he has improved, though still not very good at it. I see the fewer yards per game due to shorter field position, having the lead more often (no garbage time comebacks), a reliable kicker (we've always had this, but this even more in 2011), conservative playcalling (if Harbaugh ignored Alex's weaknesses, we'd have more INTs but also more yards per pass, IMO), the lockout shortened what plays we could know (and therefore shortened YAC or downfield shots), and of course, the struggles on third down and in the red zone. This is all due to the QB in major part, but some of these will be fixed to some degree.

I expect us to have the time and smarts to work on third downs and red zone situations this year. If we can get into the top third in these categories, I think we're SB bound. Maybe even top half. That's how good our defense is.

Urban Meyer's quote on Alex might've been true or not, but if it was.........here's his last chance to "know the entire offense".

yes he should improve just by the circumstances happening around him, how much is everyone's opinion?

 

[Ray_Dogg]

Source: 49ers raised Smith's offer slightly to $9 million guaranteed

 

[iHATEdodgers]

Alex needs to chillax..... it was Peyton HOF Manning for crying out loud. Just freakin relax!

He seemed pretty fuckin chill in that interview to me dude.

 

[MHSL82]

Just to clarify - the 10 Millon guaranteed number that we all heard about was upped to 16.5 and the official actual guarantee of 8 was upped to 9? (Sando explained there was two different "guaranteed moneys" - one that is actual and one that is a roster bonus, like Kolb's 7M where if cut it wasn't paid.) The reason I ask is to confirm that it wasn't dropped from 10 to 9.

 

[Ray_Dogg]

The initial reports of 10 were incorrect. The offer that was on the table for weeks was 8. So we bumped it up to 9 to make him feel better. The 16.5 number was never "fully gtd."

 

[MHSL82]

The initial reports of 10 were incorrect. The offer that was on the table for weeks was 8. So we bumped it up to 9 to make him feel better. The 16.5 number was never "fully gtd."

Initially, we think, "oh, it's just $1M" but then we think, that's $1,000,000.00. I could do a lot with 100,000,000 pennies.

How much of Flynn's deal was fully gtd vs. Smith's gtd? It was reported as 10 "guaranteed" like Alex's is reported in some places as 16.5 guaranteed. Overall, I read that Flynn's deal was 26 if he fully reaches his incentives (18 otherwise), whereas Smith could make 33M if he did (24 otherwise) - so he's got that. How does incentives affect the cap? Does it count for the following year? If it isn't counted at all, we should have the max incentives for everyone, with some of the money easily achievable - like a certain amount for starting the game, plays on the field, etc. That way, the non-incentives is so low that we can get as many people in the cap. (I know it doesn't work this way)

 

[Badger8843]

Not with Manningham consistently running the wrong routes, Moss being a shell of his former self who has been out of football for a year, and Crabtree being, well, Crabtree.

I'm sorry to say, but our WR corps could be really bad this year. Manning could have probably helped, but obviously we're riding the Alex bus again. The sad thing is that I have the most confidence in Kyle Williams, but he will be buried in the depth chart when he was the one who stepped up and proved to be a threat to move the chains (outside of VD, obviously) as the season progressed and the rest of the receivers battled injuries or ineffectiveness.

Pretty simple unless you dont know a thing about football:
Moss and Manningham>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Ginn and Morgan, enough said

 

[tallglassofwater007]

Pretty simple unless you dont know a thing about football:
Moss and Manningham>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Ginn and Morgan, enough said

I went to make this comparison and somebody already had. Ted Ginn at WR

 

[Ray_Dogg]

Flynn got "about $10M gtd" the same was said about Smith. So it is probably 8 or 9.

A day after Flynn made a visit to the Miami Dolphins, Seattle closed the deal with Flynn Sunday afternoon, agreeng to terms on a three-year deal that a source with direct knowledge of the deal said is worth $19 million with about $10 million guaranteed. There will be opportunities for Flynn to make as much as $24 million.

 

[Kinzu]

After reading the article last night my only thought was why could we not have bumped our offer up 1 million a week earlier and avoided this whole mess? I guess a week ago maybe Alex doesn't sign that contract for only a million more, but still it seems he never really wanted that much anyway.

 

[MHSL82]

The way I see it is if he's here for one year, his guaranteed is 9. If he's here for two years, his guaranteed is 16.5. If he's here all three years, his guaranteed is 24. Incentives could add another 9. He's only guaranteed to be here this year and if they cut him tomorrow, he's paid 9 million.

 

[MHSL82]

This is different than the starter money versus backup money that was discussed on this board earlier, so maybe that was the "structure" thing Alex was talking about. If he couldn't get a huge guaranteed money deal he wanted to either be paid as the starter or cut so he could go elsewhere (after this year of course). They were trying to lock him in as a backup if they wanted to go with Kaep. He wanted to be paid like starter or let go. Chances are he couldn't start anywhere if he underperformed, but what if he improved and they still liked Kaep better? This gives Alex and the team flexibility but forces the team to choose rather than have him stuck as backup (or, I guess, as starter, from the team's perspective).

 

[maniax]

This is different than the starter money versus backup money that was discussed on this board earlier, so maybe that was the "structure" thing Alex was talking about. If he couldn't get a huge guaranteed money deal he wanted to either be paid as the starter or cut so he could go elsewhere (after this year of course). They were trying to lock him in as a backup if they wanted to go with Kaep. He wanted to be paid like starter or let go. Chances are he couldn't start anywhere if he underperformed, but what if he improved and they still liked Kaep better? This gives Alex and the team flexibility but forces the team to choose rather than have him stuck as backup (or, I guess, as starter, from the team's perspective).

+1. Good deal for Alex, good deal for the 49ers team.
This way, at the end of each of the next 3 years, Harbaugh and Baalke can decide if they want to continue with Alex or cut him loose.

If his play does slip, he may choose to re-do the deal and sign for backup money anyways, because if he does slip he'd probably be a backup somewhere else.

 

[DoobieKeebler]

I guess I never remembered DK as being such an Alex downer before the Manning thing, but I haven't been paying attention I guess. A reasonable downer that is (not a hater). I don't think the Niners would have been semi-aggressive with obtaining receivers this offseason if they weren't trying to get more aggressive with the play-calling. I don't think that we're simply trying to increase the completion percentage, but rather open things up, take some more shots down the field, and give the defense something to think about.

I honestly think this Manning thing will do what Singletary/Nolan could never do. I think the pressure before on Alex was negative pressure with less coaching. This chip on the shoulder is a positive chip on the shoulder, not a prohibitive one, and this one comes with the manual. I know Smith will not become a Favre, but I fully expect him to take shots, as much as a Harbaugh offense does, and I never thought that before. Under Nolan/Singletary and last year, I knew we weren't going to be vertical at all. I agree that this year we will not be Green Bay in efficiency of deep passes, but I don't think Smith will be "exposed."

Alex will be more comfortable and knowledgable of the system. He has improved overall every year he's been in the league, with the 2007 year being mixed due to the injury (and obviously I'm not talking about 2008). Not only stat-wise, but in seeing the field, footwork, etc. he has improved, though still not very good at it. I see the fewer yards per game due to shorter field position, having the lead more often (no garbage time comebacks), a reliable kicker (we've always had this, but this even more in 2011), conservative playcalling (if Harbaugh ignored Alex's weaknesses, we'd have more INTs but also more yards per pass, IMO), the lockout shortened what plays we could know (and therefore shortened YAC or downfield shots), and of course, the struggles on third down and in the red zone. This is all due to the QB in major part, but some of these will be fixed to some degree.

I expect us to have the time and smarts to work on third downs and red zone situations this year. If we can get into the top third in these categories, I think we're SB bound. Maybe even top half. That's how good our defense is.

You're right, I've been a steadfast Alex supporter (not vocal and obnoxious - more optimistic), but the way he handled the Manning thing irritated me to no end, so I've been more critical of him. Until the end of this season, my assessment was that he would be able to "turn it on" with smart offensive minded coaching and good receivers, but watching Harbaugh's magic with Smith only made me feel like he could have done more. I agree and expect that Harbs will open things up more and look to add more vertical strikes to the offense, but it will be hampered, at least initially, because Alex Smith misses reads. Constantly. Missed reads have been an issue since when Alex was a rookie and would miss a read, tuck the ball, and run 20 yards to the sideline to go out of bounds for no gain. Harbaugh's positive influence on Smith was noticeable during games, so I have no issue with him as the Niners QB as FA unfolded and things stand right now, but Smith's conservative numbers speak for themselves.

Alex needs to to work on improving his IQ on third downs, noticing open receivers down the field, and building a rapport with the WRs so he can connect outside the lines consistently with guys who aren't named Davis.

As things stood at WR going into the off season the Niners needed depth more than anything because Swain, Bogan, and Hastings had no business making it onto the field last year. Moss & Manningham are interesting additions to say the least and could outperform their expectations like many of team's additions from last year's free agency, but IMO the new WR corps doesn't have a huge ceiling. When I look at the new WRs I struggle to see a big improvement over last year's motley crew.

Randy Moss being out of the NFL for a year scares me because he is a speed + jumping guy, which are two abilities that fade fast as years increase.

Mario Manningham runs incorrect routes. A lot. Way too much. When the Giants played SF during the regular season an incorrect route lead to a Niners INT. And during the SuperBowl Manningham ran a wrong route the next play immediately after hauling in that clutch catch in the 4th quarter. Eli is seen as the softer spoken, introverted, B-type personality compared to Peyton, but it became a common scene last year to see Eli Manning running off the field on 4th down, finding Manningham, grabbing him and tearing into him for not knowing what route to run.

Michael Crabtree is, well, Crabtree. His hands are insanely inconsistent. All I can remember of last season is him dropping balls from slant our stop routes during the Saints playoff game.

Ted Ginn can still be trotted out for an end around, but not much else. I remember being excited right after we traded for him, that is until I saw a Maiocco article accompanied with pictures of Ginn catching passes in shorts that clearly showed his eyes were closed. Kind of sums up how I view him in the passing game.

Kyle Williams is the most polished receiver the Niners have IMO as he runs crisp, reliable routes that have put him in position for decent YAC, he's shown average-to-consistant hands, and although he fumbled his only attempt during the Giants playoff game, Williams runs decent end-arounds. Although opportunities may be sparse because the Niners won't be running many sets with 4 WRs on the field because at least one person ALWAYS should stay back to help with protection.

One of the knocks on Alex is that he errs on the safe side too much, that he waits too long for his reads to get open. His year with Harbaugh impressed me with his ability to make smart, safe decisions to not turn the ball over leave the defense with a short field, but at the same time he held the ball and took the most sacks in the NFL. Smith is going to need to learn to trust in his WRs to go up and catch balls if he throws them.

I really do hope you're right, MHSL82, and this is a breakout year for the offense. To me that means WRs convincing Alex Smith to trust them and pull the trigger more. I don't think the passing game will be worse than last year (unless Chilo camps out at RG), so I'm still optimistic for the next season with most of the team that should have gone to the SB intact, but the NFL is a cold mistress and Randy Moss could decide his time is better spent opening another Smoothie shop. You just never know.

 

[Flyingiguana]

when it comes to manningham, maybe he's just not a smart guy. not sure how the giants run their offense but under harbaugh isn't there just one route? with a lot of teams the route adjusts based on the coverage.