Justin Smith stopped by the 49ers offices today, presumably to speak with coach Jim Tomsula, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com tweets.Despite the injuries he has dealt with, Smith is still regarded as one of the top defensive linemen in the league, so SF badly wants to keep him. However, there’s no word yet on whether he plans to play in 2015. Here’s more from the West divisions..
- Former Broncos who were coached by Gary Kubiak believe that Peyton Manning can play in his offense, including Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe and quarterback Jake Plummer, Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post writes.
- Alex Marvez of FOX Sports wonders if Manning has enough left in the tank for another championship run and frames the Broncos quarterback as something of an underdog given his age and decreasing arm strength.
- Manning’s pay cut gives the Broncos options, USA Today’s Lindsay H. Jones writes. Manning will have adjustments to make in 2015, but it’ll be a lot easier if that money is used to bring tight end Julius Thomas back to Denver. It still remains to be seen how things will work out with Denver’s numerous key free agents, but with Manning in the fold Jones sees the Broncos as the favorites yet again in the AFC West.
- Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie said a few weeks back that D.J. Hayden, Travis Carrie, and Keith McGill don’t need veteran leadership to succeed. Still, they could be in the market for cornerbacks and Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com ran down their options.
- According to a recent study, San Diego County would have to cover up to 65 percent of the cost of a new stadium for the Chargers based on what other NFL markets have contributed, Roger Showley of U-T San Diego writes.