When Drew Rosenhaus graced the sidelines at 49ers training camp on Monday, we should’ve known something was up.
NaVarro Bowman’s agent wasn’t dressed in shorts and a bucket hat. He was wearing black slacks, a white shirt and a crisp tie. His arrival to Santa Clara was not a routine checkup on his client, or to enjoy the mild California summer weather. Rosenhaus was here for business.
The 49ers have locked up their best defensive player until the year 2022, and for a fairly reasonable price tag. GM Trent Baalke tacked on four years to Bowman’s contract, gave him $20 million guaranteed and raised his average annual salary to $11 million. All in all, it’s a seven-year, $77 million deal.
For a variety of reasons, this is nothing but positive news for the 49ers.
In what’s expected to be a figuring-themselves-out season, the 49ers want to keep the cornerstone of their franchise happy — and they have the financial means to do so. Bowman has experienced winning before, and three straight seasons of emptiness on the football field can sour any player’s attitude. What fixes everything? Money. This is not to suggest Bowman is some loose cannon in the locker room ready to rebel once things head south. But by rewarding him financially, he’s the type of leader who will now invest even more of his time and energy into lifting the 49ers from the basement. This contract is about stability, for the player, but maybe even more so for the team.
You better believe that extending Bowman also has to do with next offseason. Free agents who were terrified to come to San Francisco this past spring (a real fear, one agent told KNBR.com) will now look at the 49ers in a different light. If the organization was as big of a tire-fire as perceived, why would Bowman want to to re-up his deal? Bowman is not Colin Kaepernick. He could’ve demanded a trade next offseason and teams all across the NFL would’ve start foaming at the mouth. Instead, the 49ers can pitch to free agents in 2017 that arguably the best player on the roster is committed to the franchise. That carries weight.
Of course, Baalke’s free agent strategy has never been to splash. When you bring in a bunch of above average players and make them the highest paid players on the team, it does not sit well with the current core group in the locker room — and teams who have splurged in the past often do not reap any rewards. As maddening as it was to watch the GM stand completely pat with a flawed roster, Baalke (should he stick around) told reporters he’s committed to spending more money. Bowman’s bump in salary now gives the team some more flexibility to fit Baalke’s approach. Just to look ahead, DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon and Emmanuel Sanders might very well fit into this window next March, where the 49ers will again carry significant cap space into the spending period.
And for homegrown players who may have been skeptical of the front office, Bowman’s contract is now an incentive. If you perform on the field, the team is willing to come to the negotiating table long before you hit the open market. Plus, Baalke didn’t need to see Bowman play two seasons removed from his gruesome knee injury. Players hate it when front offices hold previous injuries over their heads. This is the NFL — freak accidents happen. Bowman led the NFL in tackles in 2015, and that was enough for the 49ers to want him wearing red and gold the rest of his career.
Also, finding linebackers like Bowman in today’s passing league is one of the most underrated luxuries in the NFL. The last two representatives in the Super Bowl from the NFC — Carolina and Seattle — featured Luke Kuechly and Bobby Wagner in the middle of the defense, perhaps the only two inside linebackers better than Bowman. Obviously, Patrick Willis and Bowman formed a brick wall earlier in the decade, fortifying the 49ers’ defense. While pass rushing and secondary may take precedence, having that all-world linebacker has almost become a necessity if you want to be a championship contender.
It’s understood that optimism around the San Francisco 49ers is low for the 2016 season. Baalke has taken a ton of heat this offseason, much of it deserved.
But there really is no other way to spin this: Re-signing NaVorro Bowman is a tremendous win for a franchise in serious need of victories.
