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Last week Donte Whitner said to a group of reporters he expected fellow 49ers safety Dashon Goldson to show up for offseason workouts in Santa Clara, however, he did not know if Goldson would sign his franchise tender.  Whitner’s assessment seems to be premature as there are now reports Goldson will not be joining fellow teammates in the Bay Area for workouts anytime soon.  The 49ers placed the franchise tag on Goldson early in the offseason.

The franchise tag is non-exclusive meaning Goldson can negotiate with any team, with the 49ers having the right to match any contract offer.  If the 49ers don’t match a contract offer they will be awarded two first-round draft picks as compensation.

Last offseason the 49ers presented Goldson with a five-year, $25 million deal but the safety turned it down expecting to receive a better offer from another team.  No team offered Goldson the right long-term deal he was looking for, so he ended up signing a one-year contract with the 49ers for the 2011 season.

In a way it makes sense #38 has not signed the franchise tender because it would weaken his bargaining power with the 49ers.  If he signs the franchise tender the 49ers would have the upper hand in negotiating a long-term deal because Goldson would not be able to talk with other teams, which is his only current advantage.  But that only becomes a real advantage if other teams are seeking to sign him.

There are no reports of other teams courting Goldson and this is because they know the 49ers covet the safety.  Even if another team would offer a contract, they would be giving up a lot for Goldson.  In addition to signing him to a possible four or five-year deal, the team would also give up two first-round draft picks, which is a steep price to pay even for someone who played as well as Goldson did last season (83 tackles, 7 interceptions).  One reason for the lack of contract offers from other teams is because no one has a dire need for a starting safety.  Not yet at least.

Should Goldson sign his franchise tender with the 49ers, he will probably earn around $6 million for the upcoming season as the franchise player.  With a lack of depth at safety, the 49ers don’t necessarily have the upper hand if Goldson continues to hold out.  The last two times the 49ers had a franchise tagged player holdout for a longer contract ended badly.

In 2004 Julian Peterson held out all the way until August 26 with the season starting two weeks later.  Peterson started the first five games until he suffered a season-ending injury.  Most recently, nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin held out through most of the teams 2010 training camp and did not sign his franchise tender until August 28.  Franklin had a dismal season with only 39 tackles and zero sacks.  The 49ers did not re-sign Peterson or Franklin.

Unless Goldson plans to sit out the season, the way this will end is with him signing his franchise tender late in August, like Peterson and Franklin.  If he signs that late into training camp, the 49ers risk losing the hard hitting safety to injury and/or him not playing well because he was not there for a majority of the teams off-season conditioning and workouts.  You can file this under stalemate.

Safety Dashon Goldson Not Expected to Sign Franchise Tender With 49ers Anytime Soon - Niner Noise - Niner Noise - A San Francisco 49ers Blog

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Well, that didn’t take long.  The San Francisco 49ers suffered their first major injury of the 2012 off-season with rookie outside linebacker Darius Fleming suffering a torn ACL.  Fleming, a fifth-round draft pick from Notre Dame, injured his ACL on the first day of the 49ers rookie minicamp during a non-contact drill.  The linebacker continued participating in drills after suffering the injury but he eventually had to leave and did not return.  The day before the injury, Fleming signed a four-year, $2.264 million contract.

Fleming did not tear any other ligaments other than the ACL, which means the recovery process should be smooth.   The real problem now for the 49ers is a lack of depth at outside linebacker.  While Fleming was mostly going to be a backup at outside linebacker and used mainly on special teams, the 49ers have only four other OLB’s on the roster: Ahmad Brooks, Aldon Smith, Parys Haralson and seventh-round draft pick Cam Johnson.  Even though Johnson is a seventh-round pick, he could have a big impact and fill in well for Fleming as a backup.  Fleming is expected to miss all of the 2012 season.

Johnson was expected to go as high as the second-round in the recent draft, but he slipped all the way to the 237^th overall pick.  One big reason was concern over Johnson’s health.  He has a sickle cell trait that was diagnosed last summer but he was still able to play in the University of Virginia’s 12 of 13 games this past season.  Johnson, who stands in at 6-foot-4, 270 pounds, now has a really great chance of making the 49ers final roster with the injury to Fleming.

Another option for the 49ers would be to bring in an unsigned veteran at outside linebacker.  There are not many options on the free agent list at OLB, but veterans like Rocky McIntosh (last season w/ Redskins) or E.J. Henderson (last season w/ Vikings) would add depth and experience to the 49ers’ roster.

This is the second year in a row the 49ers have had a rookie lost to an injury for the whole year.  Seventh-round pick and cornerback Curtis Holcomb tore his Achilles on the first day of training camp last year and missed the 2011 season.

49ers Lose Rookie Outside Linebacker Darius Fleming to Torn ACL - Niner Noise - Niner Noise - A San Francisco 49ers Blog

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This week the San Francisco 49ers signed six of their seven draft picks to four-year contracts.  The newly signed players are RB LaMichael James, G Joe Looney, LB Darius Fleming, S Trenton Robinson, OL Jason Slowey, and LB Cameron Johnson.  First-round draft pick WR A.J. Jenkins is still unsigned, though he is expected to ink a deal soon with a salary of around $1.2 million based on the rookie wage scale.  It’s great for the 49ers to get almost all of their draft picks signed so early.  All of the draft picks are currently attending the 49ers’ rookie minicamp this weekend, including Jenkins.

The 49ers also announced tackle Alex Boone will be moving to guard.  It looks as if Boone will be the teams answer at starting right guard.  Boone has been a backup tackle with the 49ers since 2009 but he has never started a game at any position.  Even though Boone looks to be the best option on the roster, winning the starting job will be difficult as he has never played at guard in the NFL or in college.  The big issue with Boone is his limited time actually on the field in the regular season.

In 2009, Boone was on the 49ers’ practice squad.  The 2010 season saw him make the team but he played in only one game.  Last season Boone saw action in 172 plays on offense, at left and right tackle.  He still has more experience over his competition for the starting job at right guard.  Daniel Kilgore and Mike Pearson are a second-year guards who did not see any action on the field in 2011.  Fourth-round draft pick Joe Looney rounds out the completion at right guard.

Jim Harbaugh and his coaches must see something in Boone to put all of their faith in the offensive lineman to start at right guard who has no previous experience at the position.

49ers Sign Six Draft Picks To Contracts; Alex Boone Moves to Guard - Niner Noise - Niner Noise - A San Francisco 49ers Blog