April 2018 - San Francisco 49ers Wiretap
Jimmy Garoppolo has agreed to an endorsement deal with Jordan Brand.
Garoppolo grew up in the Chicago area.
"Since I got in the league, it was one of my dreams to be with Jordan and it came true, so I'm pretty excited about it," Garoppolo told ESPN.
Garoppolo said he and his agency began weighing various opportunities presented by Under Armour, Adidas, Nike and Nike subsidiary Jordan in the spring, just before the Niners started organized team activities.
If the 49ers improve their defense and become a playoff team, DeForest Buckner will be one of their emerging stars.
Full List of Essential 50
50. Drew Brees
49. Larry Fitzgerald
48. DeForest Buckner
47. Adam Thielen
46. Eric Berry
45. Corey Davis
44. Ali Marpet
43. Sam Darnold
42. Golden Tate
41. Geno Atkins
39. C.J. Mosley
38. Jameis Winston
37. Landon Collins
36. Vic Beasley Jr.
35. Ryan Tannehill
34. Amari Cooper
33. Malcolm Jenkins
31. LeSean McCoy
30. Patrick Mahomes
29. Bradley Roby
28. Dalvin Cook
26. Russell Wilson
25. Cam Newton
24. Joey Bosa
23. Alex Smith
22. Alvin Kamara
21. Jadeveon Clowney
20. Jarvis Landry
19. David Johnson
18. Ezekiel Elliott
17. Khalil Mack
16. Myles Garrett
15. Deshaun Watson
14. Carson Wentz
13. Todd Gurley
12. Rob Gronkowski
11. Jalen Ramsey
10. Aaron Rodgers
9. Earl Thomas
8. Aaron Donald
6. Ryan Shazier
5. Tom Brady
4. Julio Jones
3. Andrew Luck
1. Le'Veon Bell
The New York Giants were "50-50" on their willingness to trade Odell Beckham Jr. last spring.
No team, however, met the Giants' asking price of two first round picks.
The Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers were the two teams most interested in Beckham, but there were others as well. One team hired a private investigator to track Beckham. The report of the private investigator set off no alarms.
The Giants signed Beckham to a five-year, $95 million extension on Monday.
Beyond strictly looking at wins and losses, DVOA by Football Outsiders gives a clear picture of team performance.
The following Infographic shows the past 10 years of DVOA rankings (2008-2017) for the San Francisco 49ers.
The four years of Jim Harbaugh's tenure as head coach clearly stands out as the only competitive stretch of the 49ers over the past decade. The hope for the 49ers is Kyle Shanahan can similarly get the team back into the playoffs.
Ten-Year DVOA Rankings: Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins
Jimmy Garoppolo's 59 passes during the Deflategate suspension of Tom Brady in 2016 was critical in the San Francisco 49ers' evaluation of whether to trade for him.
“It makes you want to trade for him,” Kyle Shanahan said. “Because you saw exactly the ability that you saw in college that made him a [2014] second-round pick. But then, when you see it in an NFL game, nothing changed. He didn’t get in there and panic. He still showed his ability and played at a high level.”
When Shanahan and John Lynch took over the 49ers, they evaluated potential quarterbacks they could acquire with Garoppolo being on the list and the other being Kirk Cousins.
The Patriots weren't interested in trading Garoppolo during the 2017 offseason.
“We made a call, and it was, ‘He’s not available, don’t waste your time,’” Lynch said.
New England reached out to let Lynch and Shanahan know that Garoppolo might be available at the deadline, and the pair rushed to meet with Niners executive vice president of football operations Paraag Marathe.
The 49ers were hesitant to commit to an unproven player long-term.
“We made that commitment to each other,” Lynch says. “We [weren’t] saying, ‘Come hell or high water, this is our guy.’ We think it’s a worth a second-round pick to have a great look at a guy that we think is really talented. And then we learned everything else about him.”
Richard Sherman has created a daily fantasy sports business.
Sherman announced Thursday that his new fantasy site, Daily Number, will be launching paid contests in 23 states. Sherman is the co-founder, along with CEO Tom McAuley, and will be the chief brand ambassador, appearing in an upcoming video ad campaign.
"Daily Number is a game-changer," Sherman said in a release announcing the launch. "I've been pitched numerous DFS opportunities, but nothing has even come close to comparing to Daily Number. I'm extremely excited to be a founding partner and look forward to playing an active role in helping the company grow during this very dynamic time in our industry."
Daily Number features a unique twist on traditional fantasy, with entrants creating seven-player rosters that attempt to eclipse a predetermined total amount of fantasy points, set by the site and known as the "daily number."
The Denver Broncos pursued Colin Kaepernick in the past and they don't appear to view him as a viable veteran backup quarterback now since he turned down that opportunity.
The Broncos attempted to trade for Kaepernick in 2016 before his anthem protests began.
“Colin had his chance here," said John Elway. "We offered him a contract. He didn’t take it. So, As I said it in my deposition, I don’t know if i’ll be legally able to say this, but he’s had his chance to be here. He passed it."
The San Francisco 49ers will sign Alfred Morris after losing two running backs to injuries recently.
Morris was scheduled to meet the 49ers in Houston, where the team will have joint practices this week against the Texans before Saturday's preseason game.
He spent two seasons with Kyle Shanahan when the latter was the offensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins (2012-13).
Jerick McKinnon suffered a calf strain in Sunday's practice and will sit out this week before being re-evaluated next week. Matt Breida sustained a separated shoulder in Thursday's preseason game and will miss the rest of the preseason.
The San Francisco 49ers investigated possible solutions to add shade for those who sit on the sunny side of Levi's Stadium, but were unsuccessful in coming up with a viable option.
“We can’t add shade,” 49ers team president Al Guido said on the 49ers Insider Podcast. “It’s not possible.”
The design of the stadium and FAA regulations makes all possible renovations impractical.
“What I can tell the fans is we’re committed to making their experience as best as it possibly can,” Guido said. “We understand there might be a game or two early in the season that might be warm. We cannot add shade. We cannot build a roof.”
The 49ers have two regular-season games in September and October that could get uncomfortable for some fans: Week 2, Sept. 16, against Detroit at 1 p.m.; and Week 5, Oct. 7, against Arizona, 1:25 p.m.
The 49ers are providing free filtered water on the concourse and the price of bottled water has been dropped from $6 to $2.
