Alex Smith is scheduled to make $8.5 million in 2013, a number that makes his return to the San Francisco 49ers unlikely.

But Jet York wouldn't rule out the possibility of Smith returning.

"You figure out what's best for guys, what's best for the team," York said. "And you figure out, is there a spot on the team for him from a cap standpoint? Yeah, absolutely, there's a spot for him on the team.

"From a need standpoint? It's pretty nice to have two quarterbacks that you feel you can win with. Is there going to be a demand for a quarterback that's played as well as he has the last couple of years? Yeah. Does he want want to go start and play? So there are a lot of things that go into it. And we'll sit down after the Super Bowl and figure out what's best for everybody and how to move forward."

Nate Silver predicts the San Francisco 49ers will defeat the Baltimore Ravens to win the Super Bowl.

Silver said the 49ers have the better defensive team and that side wins the Super Bowl approximately 70 percent of the time.

Silver, however, erroneously predicted that the Seahawks would meet the Patriots in the Super Bowl before the playoffs started.

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver was asked on Tuesday if there were any gay players on the team.

“No, we don’t got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do.

“Can’t be with that sweet stuff. Nah … can’t be … in the locker room man. Nah.”

The 49ers released a statement about Culliver's comments.

“The San Francisco 49ers reject the comments that were made yesterday, and have addressed the matter with Chris. There is no place for discrimination within our organization at any level. We have and always will proudly support the LGBT community.”

There have been more secondary ticket sales for the Super Bowl by people from the state of Maryland than to California, according to data from VividSeats. 

Maryland has comprised 22.5 percent of ticket sales, ahead of California at 18.4 percent, Texas at 8.5 percent and Louisiana at 4.3 percent.

This would suggest that the Superdome crowd might lean slightly for the Baltimore Ravens over the San Francisco 49ers.

The average ticket price this year is $3,255, ahead of last season's game between the Patriots and Giants, which had an average ticket price of $3,040. This year's game trails the 2011 edition between the Packers and Steelers, however.

The San Francisco 49ers start 15 players who were on their roster prior to Jim Harbaugh's arrival.

The 49ers started the 2010 season with an 0-5 record, but Jed York still predicted that they would win their division in a vote of confidence for his organization.

"If a Fortune 500 company fires its CEO, they don't fire everybody in the organization and start fresh," York said in Santa Clara last week. "They might cut out some of the dead weight. But they keep the top performers, they keep the people that are part of the fabric of the company. And that's what I looked at here."

Instead of hiring an outside general manager after that season, York promoted Trent Baalke.

Aldon Smith, Colin Kaepernick, Bruce Miller, Jonathan Goodwin, Carlos Rogers, Donte Whitner and Randy Moss are the 49ers' seven players acquired with Harbaugh.

Alex Smith has a 2-25 career record as a starter when the San Francisco 49ers have allowed at least 24 points, while Colin Kaepernick is 3-1 in those games.

Smith was the 49ers' starter in a Week 3 loss when they allowed 24 points against the Vikings. Smith started a Week 2 loss last season against the Cowboys where the 49ers allowed 27 points, which was their highest points allowed total beyond a 34-27 Week 17 win against the Rams.

Smith also won last season's Divisional Playoff game against the Saints by a 36-32 final that was considered his best performance to date.

Jim Harbaugh credited Alex Smith for his impact in coaching and preparing Colin Kaepernick.

“He’s prepared and been involved in the game planning, in preparations, he’s prepared himself as the starter each week,” Harbaugh said of Smith. “That’s what he’s done, that’s what we expect of him and that’s what he has delivered. Another person really to credit in Colin’s success because Alex has really helped coach Colin and has been right there by his side. Sitting there in meetings every single day. He coaches Colin now more than I do, and that speaks high of the kind of person and teammate that Alex Smith is.”

Aldon Smith was voted MVP of the San Francisco 49ers by his teammates and coaches. The award is named after Bill Walsh.

"I don't know how many guys we had named to the Pro Bowl (nine) on our team, but to get over them, that means a lot," Smith said.

Smith voted for Randy Moss.

Justin Smith, Frank Gore and Patrick Willis have won the award in the previous three seasons.

Alex Smith is expected to seek his release from the San Francisco 49ers prior to the beginning of free agent, according to a source.

Smith would be free to sign with any team, but he would lose the $8.5 million per season he would earn if traded.

Smith's contract would be guaranteed in full on April 1.

Michael Crabtree will not be charged on a count of sexual assault.

After examining information submitted by police, district attorney George Gascon said his office determined that no charges would be filed "at this time."

"The San Francisco Police Department -- Special Victims Unit completed and submitted a thorough investigation of the allegations against Michael Crabtree," Gascon said.