Pretty much a low-risk, high reward move if you ask me. About the worst thing that can happen is he has a huge year and resigning him becomes all difficult. If he catches 70 for 20 TDs, they won't have 10 mil to resign him... Otherwise, he doesn't cost much, they have room for him, the draft is rich in developmental WR prospects and they have room for at least one of them too, so his age is not too severe an opportunity cost. Vincent Jackson has already priced out of their range (and free-agency hasn't even started.) Wallace or Garcon would be good buys for them, but may not actually come available. Hines Ward would be useful, but probably will retire instead. It should be pretty easy to tell pretty early if he can't play anymore, and if he can he addresses their greatest need... and supposedly he ran 4.4 flat for them the day they signed him...
With Flynn signing, the Niners are exposed, because if Smith signs with the Fins and Peyton goes to Denver or the Titans, the Niners could be left without a chair when the music stops.
"Report: Smith, 49ers agree to terms on new contract" (Tuesday, 3/20/12) Jim Harbaugh and Alex Smith will work together to run the 49ers' offense for at least one more season, according to a report. -G
Wow. Hadn't ever heard of this guy until now. It's clear that the Niners don't want Alex as a starter- I'm wondering what he has to do after beating the Bountyhun- uh, Saints and taking a team to the NFC title game (or not screwing it up).
Between Alex and Tebow, I'm wondering if Rodney Dangerfield climbed into a time machine and QBed for Urban Meyer at some point...
He was raw coming out of college, but many NFL personnel people like him. When Smith was talking to the Fins, I think someone on ESPN said that the Niners liked Johnson so much they expected that if Alex left, Johnson could become the starting QB for the Niners. So, I'm not surprised by the signing. The QB who should be concerned isn't so much Alex as Kaepernik. This could be an indication the team isn't so high on the development of Kaepernik.
Kaepernick... Hadn't seen him play since Nevada beat Boise State, and didn't know what became of him. Would have been easy enough to find out. You may be right about who Johnson's intended to replace in this case, but Tebow was being wooed as a starter is my guess.
Saw both his regular season cameos, and I think all of his preseason work. He didn't look too good, but OTOH both Manning and Bradshaw looked worse at the same stage of their careers (other than the gnarly tats, that is.)
