Reading various sources it seems that former/current/leave of absence general manager Scot McCloughan’s “personal matters” were ongoing, had to with McCloughan only, did not involve anything illegal and was not for football reasons.  McCloughan was confronted by team officials at a meeting on Wednesday about the ongoing personal issue and it seems was let go afterwards.  The 49ers front office has yet to make any announcement about the move which some have attributed to team officials finalizing a buy-out of the last two years of McCloughan’s contract.  All of this sheds more light on why the sudden departure of a general manager during the most important period of the off-season and one can speculate about what the personal issues are that forced the hand of Niner team officials.  However I am still confused at the timing in all of this.  If this was an ongoing personal issue I hope when all of the information comes out that the 49ers had been trying multiple times to resolve the matter with McCloughan and it did not get better.  No other explanation will be accepted by the 49ers Faithful from team officials and will hopefully end the head scratching as to the timing of the firing.

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Fire/relieve/let go, choose any word you want to put in between 49ers___Scot McCloughan as GM, the story is the same with the team looking for a new GM in the heart of the off-season with the NFL draft more than a month away and prospects working out for teams at their facilities and pro days.

McCloughan sent a text to AOL Fanhouse saying he was relieved of his duties for a “personal matter.”  The big story will be what was the personal matter and who it involved in the front office.  But right now the question is why at this point in the off-season?  Was it the flop-on-arrival signing of QB David Carr as it seemed Carr and McCloughan were the only two people excited about the signing?  McCloughan had not been the best GM when he and former head coach Mike Nolan shared the duties of general manager but since the end of the 2008 season when he was named official GM he has had a good track record in the draft:

• Drafting of Michael Crabtree. Even though Crabtree held out McCloughan rode out his threat of sitting out the season and finally got him to sign for less than what Crabtree was demanding.  In 2009 he also drafted potential starters in RB Glen Coffee and QB Nate Davis.
• In 2008 he drafted DT Kentwan Balmer and G Chilo Rachal who we are still waiting to develop up to their promise but the talent is there.  He also found WR Josh Morgan in the seventh round.

McCloughan has not had such a good track record with free-agent signings since he took over as GM but he also was not put in the position by team management to go after big name free-agents.  Nonetheless the timing of the firing is mind boggling.  If this was truly a personal matter why wait until two months into the off-season to make the move?  If you had issues with him, fire him.  What has changed your mind?  But if the firing is because of something that recently happened in the front office, shame on you for putting yourself before the team.  I don’t know who the YOU is in all of this. Could be Mike Singletary, could be Jed Joke, or both but whoever it is I don’t think they made the right decision.

Potential Candidates to replace McCloughan:

Mike Singletary: We went down this road with Nolan who had no experience as a GM and I don’t see any reason why there would be a different outcome with Singletary who has no experience making personnel moves.

Jed Joke: Oh, god no.  Unless you are a billionaire like Jerry Jones and you actually care about putting a winning football team on the field, chances are you won’t have much success as owner/GM.

More suitable candidates already in the 49ers front office and who have worked with McCloughan include Tom Gamble (Director of Pro Personnel), Paraag Marathe (Vice President of Football Operations), Brian Hampton (Director of Football Operations) and Trent Baalke (Director of Player Personnel).

OR: Maybe Jed Joke will bring back the debacle days of former 49ers GM Terry Donahue.  I heard he is available.  At this point I wouldn’t rule anything out with the 49ers front office.

Newly signed free-agent quarterback David Carr said he would not have signed with the 49ers if not for the possibility of becoming a starter saying that he would have stayed with the New York Giants as a back up to Eli Manning if that was the case.  Head Coach Mike Singletary has said Alex Smith is the starter under center however he has also said he likes competition.  The only thing I like about the signing of Carr is that it will push Smith to play at his highest level, something he would not have received from Shaun Hill or Nate Davis.  Carr would have to have a training camp of a lifetime, probably the best ever, to even be considered the starter because I see no point in bringing back both offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye and Smith if you didn’t think either can get the job done.  Bringing back Raye gives Smith consistency at coordinator which in turn gives Smith his best and final chance at proving himself.  Starting over now from scratch at quarterback is not wise at this point because of the progress Smith made last season when given the opportunity to start.  The time to start from scratch will be after this upcoming season if Smith proves that he cannot be a reliable starter in the NFL but we won’t know that if Carr is the starter.

Shaun Hill traded

With the signing of Carr it was all but apparent that the odd-man out between Smith, Hill, Carr and Davis was Hill.  That was made official on Monday when the 49ers traded Hill to the Lions for a seventh-round draft pick.  Hill will get the chance to back up another number draft pick in Lions QB Matthew Stafford.  Hill for the most part did well when he started for the Niners with a 10-6 record.  It was obvious Hill could manage a game well but to expect him to carry the team to a win from a deficit he could not handle because he had no deep-arm and no scrambling abilities.  We can be thankful to Hill for two reasons:  One is for him going 5-3 down the stretch in 2008 which helped then interim head coach Singletary secure his job as the 49ers new head coach. The other is his closeness to Alex Smith, Hill was a best man at Smith’s wedding, which helped Smith develop more as a quarterback and opened up a second chance at being the starting QB.

Patrick Willis has knee surgery

Linebacker Patrick Willis had surgery to remove a bursa sac in his knee.  This was the reason why Willis sat out the Pro-Bowl because of the fluid but he is expected to fully recover in time for training camp.  Keep your fingers crossed Niner Faithful any knee surgery is serious but especially for a linebacker that has the speed and superb tackling that Willis has.  Even if you fully recover knee surgeries slow down linebackers and their abilities.  See Chargers LB Shawne Merriman.

Niners sign free-agent cornerback Karl Paymah

The Niners added some depth to their secondary by signing Karl Paymah to a one-year deal who was with the Vikings last year. The Niners lost CB Marcus Hudson to the Panthers and CB Dre’ Bly is still unsigned.  Paymah has been mostly a back up since he was drafted in 2005 by the Broncos.

Paymah by the numbers:

Drafted by the Broncos in the third-round with the 76th pick.

Played in 72 games as a cornerback and on special teams.

Seven career starts at cornerback

Listed as 6-ft. 195 pounds.

With the Bears, Falcons and Dolphins making the big free agent signing splashes of the weekend 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan got right into the action by signing a former number one draft pick.  Normally that would be huge headlines but in this case the player is a number one draft pick, bust.  Quarterback David Carr signed a two-year deal on Sunday and had spent the last two seasons with the Giants as Eli Manning’s backup.  As the 49ers add to their roster of former number one draft picks I wonder what the real meaning of this signing will be?  We all know that head coach Mike Singletary likes competition and he said that when he talked at the NFL scouting combine naming Alex Smith the starting quarterback going into the off-season.  Carr is an unproven quarterback because he has really never had an opportunity to be a starter on a good team.  He was drafted by the Texans when they became an expansion team in 2002 and he went on to set the record for most sacks in a season with 76.  It is perplexing as to why Carr would want to sign with the 49ers.  As much as his confidence was shattered in his five seasons with Texans and that he has been a backup QB with the Panthers and Giants the last three seasons he still believes he can be a starter in the NFL.  That maybe true as he has never been given a chance to start under center behind a good offensive line but I don’t think signing with the 49ers is going to give him that chance.  Singletary and his coaches will want to see what they can build on from last year with Smith as the number one quarterback especially with offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye coming back for a second straight season.  Raye was not the best offensive coordinator last year but he adapted the offense to Smith’s best qualities, the spread formation, and he is the first play-caller to return for the next season in over eight years.

What the signing of Carr really means is bad news for Shaun Hill who will most likely be cut from the roster.  I disagree that Carr would make a better backup than Hill mainly because Hills knows the current offensive system of the 49ers and Carr is coming in cold.  But then again Hill did not look all the impressive last year when he started.  Third-string quarterback Nate Davis will be a starter at some point in the coming years but relying on a second year QB to be the backup to Smith most likely gave McCloughan and company the hibbie jibbies so they signed Carr.  Problem is, I think this might be the 49ers biggest free agent signing this off-season even though the 2010 NFL season is uncapped.  The 49ers did improve their record to 8-8 but if they think by only signing Carr and whoever they take with the 13th and 16th picks in the draft will make them a playoff contending team, they should reevaluate their current roster.  If it does play out this way McCloughan is sending a message that the 49ers are taking baby steps towards contending in the NFC West while the Cardinals and Seahawks are taking steps to stay atop of the division.

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At 9:00PM (PST) last night the 2010 NFL free agency period started and even with the Niners needing upgrades at safety, cornerback and offensive line don’t expect the team to make any big signings like they have in past years with DE Justin Smith and CB Nate Clements.  I suspect the 49ers will sign some free agents but none of the big names available unless they are still around later in the free agency period.  I would love to see the 49ers upgrade the cornerback position by singing former Texans CB Dunta Robinson but with him making $10 million last year because he had a franchise tag he will most likely be aiming for around those numbers when a team approaches him.  If Robinson is still looking for a team a couple weeks from now the 49ers could offer him contract.  The offensive line, notably the tackle position, will be upgraded with one of the two first round draft picks the Niners have.  When free agency is over and if the 49ers have not upgraded the secondary, expect them to use one of the first round picks on a safety or cornerback.  Secondary and offensive line positions have consistently shown that they can make the most impact right away as starters in the NFL.

With all the available running backs in free agency this year it might be wise for the Niners to go after one of them to take some of the load off running back Frank Gore.  Gore is still the number one option at RB but I think head coach Mike Singletary still holds onto his vision of a smash-mouth style of run game which Gore by himself cannot do.  Going after the likes of Jason Snelling (restricted free agent), Larry Johnson (unrestricted free agent), Darren Sproles (RFA), Ronnie Brown (URA), Thomas Jones or LaDainian Tomlinson to name a few would be a good move.  Problem is some are over 30 (Johnson, Jones, Tomlinson) and would still want a chance to be a starter no matter how much their skills have diminished and the younger players will must likely only sign with a team knowing they can start.  I love Gore and think he should be the featured back but in a few years the Niners but be in a position like the Chargers are in now where they have had their star running back return dismal numbers because of age.  Niners backup RB Glen Coffee is still a work in progress as he showed last year replacing an injured Gore so it would make sense for the Nners to bring in another running back, no matter the age, to take off the pressure for Coffee even if for just one or two years.  If Gore or (insert over age 30 free agent running back here) gets hurt Coffee would have to come into action and we don’t know what we would get out of Coffee.  That is a problem but having Coffee learn under not only Gore but maybe someone like Tomlinson or Jones would be beneficial.  But the only way the 49ers are going to sign any of the big free agent running backs is if other teams stay away and go for the younger backs available giving up draft picks for RFA’s.  Don’t expect the 49ers to sign a RFA because of the draft picks they have or to draft a running back in any of the early rounds.  They will address their secondary and offensive line issues first in the draft before going after a running back.

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