Over the past two seasons, injuries have taken their toll on running back Brian Westbrook, forcing him to miss a significant amount of time last season, and enough of the year before to keep him from hitting the all important 1,000 yards on the season.

San Francisco’s front office likely weighed all of that in their mind and then some throughout the off-season, but after having backup rusher Glen Coffee leave the team because of personal issues last week, the 49ers made their move.

All of Westbrook’s issues will likely be forgotten if he can step into the huddle in San Francisco, stay healthy, and produce when called upon this season, but given his history, that’s a big if.

Having a standout running back playing in front of him in the form of Frank Gore will definitely help in keeping Westbrook intact throughout the entire year, and while his health isn’t exactly perfect right now, Westbrook should be ready to go by the start of the season.

Read the rest of this entry »

Just a few days removed from having running back Glen Coffee leave the team for reasons unknown, San Francisco has now been forced to seek a trading partner to work with in a deal to move defensive tackle Kentwan Balmer, after he failed to show back up at the team’s facility following an approved leave of absence.

Balmer is a former first round pick drafted in 2008, and while he has not lived up to the billing thus far, Balmer was expected to be a solid backup and rotational player for the 49ers defense this year.

It’s doubtful that Balmer will bring back anything significant in a trade, given his AWOL status, but getting any semblance of a return at this point would be beneficial to San Francisco, as they’ll likely be forced to either release him outright or place him on the reserve/left squad list.

Such a designation would end Balmer’s season this year and almost certainly guarantee him a one way ticket out of town next off-season, but if San Francisco can find someone willing to take Balmer on as a project, a change of scenery could help him jumpstart his career.

It’s not often that a professional player is willing give up his career for another pursuit, and it’s even rarer to see one do it early on before they pocket a sizable amount of money for their athletic ability.

But that’s exactly what happened to the 49ers this morning, with running back Glen Coffee abruptly leaving the team’s training camp, telling head coach Mike Singletary that his heart was no longer in the game, and he would be moving on to other pursuits.

Coffee was entering his second season in the NFL, and expectations were high for him, after he put up solid numbers behind fellow running back Frank Gore last year. Now instead of having a proven commodity to back up Gore, the 49ers are now left with rookie Anthony Dixon and little used veteran Michael Robinson to handle that role.

Singletary was respectful in his comments towards Coffee’s departure, indicating that he felt that Coffee handled it appropriately, despite the odd timing involved.

Read the rest of this entry »

There’s not much worse that can befall a team in training camp than to have a player drop to the ground as a result of the heat, especially in light of the death of Vikings offensive tackle Korey Stringer in 2001 during practice.

Unfortunately for San Francisco, that exact scenario played out for a short while this evening, with offensive guard Chilo Rachal falling to the ground with exhaustion. Comcast Sports Net Bay Area”s Matt Maiocco reported the news first (via Twitter).

Rachal laid fairly still on the ground with the trainers by his side before sitting up and eventually leaving the field for the locker room, where he has since received an IV and is resting for the time being.

Once Miami’s acquisition of Brandon Marshall became final, wide receiver Ted Ginn, Jr. quickly became the odd man out on the depth chart. Many around the league expected the Dolphins to trade Ginn before the draft next week, and that’s exactly what happened, with Miami shipping Ginn out this morning to San Francisco.

The news was first reported by Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer. Terms have not yet been released, although the price paid by the 49ers will likely be no higher than a fifth round pick in this year’s draft, given Ginn’s inconsistency throughout his career thus far.

The San Francisco 49ers have traded former starting quarterback Shaun Hill to the Detroit Lions in exchange for a seventh round pick in the 2011 draft, according to multiple sources.

Hill was 10-6 as the 49ers starter, with 3,490 yards, 23 TD’s, 11 INT’s, and an 87.3 QBR.

He entered 2009 as the starter but was eventually supplanted by Alex Smith, when the 49ers signed David Carr to be their backup quarterback, it made Hill the odd man out.

The going rate for a proven backup quarterback seems to be a 7th round pick this off season; former Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace was traded to the Cleveland Browns for a conditional 7th rounder that could turn into a 6th based on playing time.

The 49ers have given quarterback Shaun Hill permission to seek a trade, effectively putting him up on the trading block heading into next month’s draft.

San Francisco recently signed former No. 1 overall pick David Carr to be the new backup option to former No. 1 pick Alex Smith, who experienced a career resurgence last season that likely saved his career.

Hill has a 10-6 record with 3,490 yards, 23 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and an 87.3 quarterback rating as a starter for the 49ers. If no trade can be reached the 49ers will likely cut ties with their most productive signal caller over the past three seasons.

Teams likely to be interested include Arizona, St. Louis, Seattle, Cleveland, New Orleans, and Carolina, as Hill is a very appealing option due to his previous starting experience.

Despite holding a 10-6 record as the San Francisco 49ers‘ starting quarterback, Shaun Hill has been given permission by the team to seek a trade, according to Matt Maiocco. The veteran passer is best known for overcoming a rough start to his football career and supplanting several players on the Niners’ depth chart to hold a starting position for a brief period of time. Originally brought into the league by the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002, Hill lost his role in the leading lineup this past year as young Alex Smith regained some confidence and earned the trust of the staff.

Now that he is in a reserve position in San Francisco, management is obviously okay with letting him leave, hence their allowance for him to seek a trade. In his starting chances, Hill has thrown 23 touchdowns compared to 11 interceptions, and has overall been a quality option to lead an offensive unit. There have not been many teams listed who would possibly have interest in Hill, but a club like the Texans might be willing to acquire him to play a lower-end depth player behind Matt Schaub.

Mark this down as conjecture at this point, but based on various reports around the league, the 49ers have begun to show interest in signing restricted free agent running back Leon Washington (Jets) to a offer sheet in the near future.

Washington was only tendered with a second round offer, and as such he could be seen as an intriguing option for teams in need of a speedy runner offensively and a talented return man on special teams. San Francisco certainly fits that bill, and while Washington’s nasty leg injury from last season may scare off a few potential suitors, the sacrifice of a second round pick for a player who has proven himself to be a very dangerous weapon may be worth the risk.

At this point, neither side has openly spoken with the other, but that could change as the week progresses, with teams beginning to focus more on the restricted free agent market and players who have been let go as a result of other signings.

As always, we’ll keep you posted when anything new hits the wire.

After dancing back and forth most of the weekend, David Carr (Giants) finally has a new home.

According to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News, the free agent quarterback has decided to accept San Francisco’s offer, and will compete with fellow former #1 overall pick Alex Smith for the starting role next season. The move likely spells the end of Shaun Hill in a 49ers uniform, as he is valuable enough as a backup and potential starter to bring San Francisco a relatively decent draft pick in return, should they choose to put him on the block.

Carr has spent the past two seasons as Eli Manning’s backup and while he is best known for his disastrous tenure as the starter for Houston, he has shown the ability to take on a starting job once again, and should have every opportunity to do just that with the 49ers. His deal with the club is reportedly for two years.

6:15 pm – Well, apparently the 49ers didn’t do enough to wow Carr during his visit today, because he’s leaving town without a contract, according to Vacchiano. That said, he’s still in the area at his Bakersfield, CA home so it’s possible that he’s left for the day and is comfortable with his agent finishing up the deal.

8:30 am – It probably won’t make the front page headlines, but the 49ers are quietly putting the finishing touches on a contract agreement with quarterback David Carr (Giants). No specifics have made it out onto the wire as of yet, but according to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News, Carr is in San Francisco as we speak to take a physical.

Carr has been a backup since his departure from Houston in 2007, but could have a legitimate shot at taking the reins for the 49ers this fall, as head coach Mike Singletary has thus far refused to name a starter. Carr is a former #1 overall pick and will likely do battle during spring OTAs and in training camp with another #1 overall pick in Alex Smith, who was the starter for most of last year.

The 49ers haven’t had much luck as of late with their quarterback play, watching former #1 overall pick Alex Smith struggle with his propensity to turn the ball over. While it seemed as though Smith took a step forward last week with a solid game at home against the Cardinals, that wasn’t the case today, when he threw three interceptions in San Francisco’s loss to the Eagles on the road.

But none of that seems to matter to head coach Mike Singletary, who gave the strongest indication yet as to the team’s plans for the off-season at the QB position, with a relatively strong endorsement of Smith at the end of the game.

“I think tonight Alex played poorly. He’s capable of playing better than that. I don’t have any questions about him. I don’t have any questions going forward. Sometimes you try to make things happen, and if they’re not happening and you force it. Maturity, patience, those kinds of things, trust in receivers’ routes, all of those things, you try to make happen. As a quarterback, you have to learn you can’t force it. He’s shown me enough prior to tonight. He had a bad game. Great quarterbacks have bad games. So I don’t have any questions about him.”

– San Francisco head coach Mike Singletary

Read the rest of this entry »