Earlier this afternoon, we recapped several comments 49ers general manager Trent Baalke made about linebacker Aldon Smith and running back LaMichael James, who have both been in the news lately. In Smith’s case, Baalke reinforced the idea that, despite the linebacker’s off-court issues, the team hopes to work things out and keep him around long-term, though the GM didn’t commit to picking up Smith’s fifth-year option. As for James, Baalke dismissed the idea that San Francisco is looking to trade the running back.
Here are a few more Niners notes based on Baalke’s discussion with the media today:
- Colin Kaepernick was named in a report of a “suspicious incident” incident in Miami by police, but Baalke indicated that shouldn’t have a real impact on the Niners’ desire to work out a long-term deal with the quarterback, as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com details. “Nothing’s changed,” Baalke said. “But at the same token, negotiations of these kind, they’re long. They can be drawn out. They can be very tedious. Like all of these, it takes a lot of work to get theses types of deals done. We’re going to work diligently like we said we would. But when that gets done, is there a goal, a timeline? I can’t say that there is.”
- Baalke also indicated that the Niners have the “ammunition” to move up in the draft if the right situation arises (Twitter link). Even if San Francisco doesn’t want to use James as a trade chip, the team could rely on its collection of draft picks to help facilitate a deal — six of the first 100 picks in the draft belong to the Niners.
- If the 49ers do decide to trade up in the first round, wide receiver Mike Evans may be a target. According to Evan Silva of Rotoworld (Twitter link), Chris Mortensen said today on ESPN that the “buzz inside league circles that you keep hearing” suggests Evans is drawing interest from the Niners.