Jimmy Garoppolo Goal Is OTAs Return
- The 2018 season marked the first NFL campaign without DeAngelo Hall‘s involvement since 2003. The recently retired Redskins safety may be eyeing a return to the league as a coach. Hall said (via Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan, on Twitter) he interviewed for a position as Redskins secondary coach on Tuesday. The team, though, went with Ray Horton to oversee its defensive backs. Hall, 35, also could begin his coaching career at the college level, indicating he interviewed for a job on Maryland’s staff as well. After Hall passed on the Terrapins’ offer, in hopes of pursuing the Redskins’ position, the Big Ten program went in another direction (Twitter link via Brendan Darr of 106.7 The Fan). So, Hall remains an interesting coaching free agent.
- The 49ers may see their quarterback on the field by OTAs. That is the goal for a Jimmy Garoppolo re-emergence, John Lynch said on the RapSheet and Friends Podcast (via NFL.com). Lynch confirmed Garoppolo has not endured any setbacks on his recovery from a September ACL tear. This is the latest update indicating Garoppolo participating in OTAs was a realistic possibility.
49ers Promote Martin Mayhew
- The 49ers have promoted Martin Mayhew to vice president of of player personnel, tweets Matt Barrows of The Athletic. Mayhew, whose previous title was “senior personnel executive,” will now share the VP role with Adam Peters. After serving as Detroit’s general manager from 2008-15, Mayhew was the Giants’ director of football operations/special projects in 2016 before he joined San Francisco the following year. He interviewed for the Panthers’ GM gig last February, but lost out to interim Marty Hurney.
49ers’ Weston Richburg, D.J. Reed Undergo Surgery
49ers center Weston Richburg and cornerback D.J. Reed both recently underwent surgery, leaving their availability for the start of training camp in question, San Francisco announced today. Richburg’s operation addressed an ongoing knee issue, while Reed went under the knife to correct a shoulder injury.
Richburg inked a five-year, $47.5MM contract with the 49ers last offseason, and proceeded to play in 15 games despite dealing with his knee injury. His production wasn’t great, as Pro Football Focus assigned Richburg the lowest grade (51.9) of his five-year career, but it’s fair to assume his health questions factored into his reduced level of play.
Although Richburg could return for training camp, knee injuries can often last longer than initially expected. The 49ers don’t have a ton of depth along the interior of their offensive line, so they could potentially be in trouble if Richburg is forced to miss any regular season action. Erik Magnuson would presumably take over at center, but San Francisco could look to free agency and/or the draft to shore up their line in case Richburg isn’t ready for the 2019 campaign.
Reed, a fifth-round pick last year, appeared in 15 games (two starts) for the Niners. At 5’9″, 188 pounds, he’s mostly suited for the slot, and that’s where he primarily played in 2018. All told, Reed saw action on roughly a third of San Francisco’s defensive snaps and 43.2% of the club’s special teams plays.
49ers Open To Earl Mitchell Return
The Niners will not exercise Earl Mitchell‘s option for 2019, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s off the team. GM John Lynch has not closed the door on bringing the defensive tackle back at a lower price, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com tweets. 
Mitchell probably would have liked to play out the final two years of his four-year contract, but on the plus side, his release gives him an opportunity to explore the open market sooner. There should be a healthy market for his services as well – Mitchell offers plenty of experience and he won’t turn 32 until September.
Still, Mitchell may have to wait until after the first wave of free agency in March to find his next landing spot. Typically, teams are focused on higher-ticket items when free agency first gets underway and players of Mitchell’s caliber usually don’t get real attention until the end of the month.
Mitchell finished out the 2018 season with 28 tackles across 14 games (12 starts). Had he been retained by the Niners, he would have counted for a $4.45MM cap figure in 2019.
49ers To Release Earl Mitchell
The 49ers are not picking up the contract option for veteran defensive tackle Earl Mitchell, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Mitchell provided the Niners with a solid locker room presence, but they’ll have to find that leadership elsewhere. 
The Niners used D.J. Jones as their nose tackle down the stretch of the season so it’s likely that Jones will continue to be the team’s answer in the middle, unless they replace him with someone better between now and September. Mitchell leaves the Bay Area two years into a four-year deal.
At the time of signing, Mitchell’s contract was reported to be a straight-up four-year deal with no option years. Instead, the deal was believed to be a four-year, $16MM pact with a $4.45MM cap figure for the 2019 season. Releasing Mitchell under those terms would call for a $1.5MM dead money charge with $2.95MM in cap savings. Regardless of whether there is an option or not, the outcome is likely the same.
Mitchell finished out the 2018 season with 28 tackles across 14 games (12 starts).
49ers Won't Trade No. 2 Pick For Brown
- The 49ers are the Las Vegas frontrunners to land Antonio Brown, and The Athletic (subscription required) agrees with that assessment. San Francisco should be viewed as the clubhouse leaders to acquire the disgruntled Steelers wideout, per The Athletic’s Matt Barrows. Kyle Shanahan balked at paying high prices for this past year’s UFA crop, and Barrows writes the 49ers will not be giving up their No. 2 overall pick for a soon-to-be 31-year-old wideout. However, he cautions a team picking in the late first round may be able to outflank a San Francisco trade offer, regardless of the 49ers’ need at this position.
49ers Notes: Draft, Coaching Staff
In 2017, the Niners traded the No. 2 overall pick to the QB-needy Bears in exchange for the No. 3 pick and three more draft choices. Matt Barrows of The Athletic can imagine a similar scenario unfolding this year as the Niners, once again, hold the No. 2 overall pick.
The draft board seems a little uncertain right now, but quarterbacks tend to drift up from the bottom of the first round to the Top 10 as the big day draws near. This year, teams like the Giants (No. 6 overall pick), Jaguars (No. 7), Broncos (No. 10) and Dolphins (No. 13), and Redskins (No. 15) could all be candidates to move up the board to get their next signal caller.
Here’s more out of SF:
- 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said he initially rebuffed the Broncos’ attempts to speak with Rich Scangarello because he wanted to ensure that Scangarello would in fact be moving up from quarterbacks coach to a play-calling offensive coordinator (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner). Once that was confirmed, Shanahan cleared the way for Scangarello to become Vic Fangio‘s top offensive coach.
- Conversely, Shanahan says he declined requests for Mike LaFleur and Mike McDaniel to explore other opportunities because neither position they would have interviewed for would have been a promotion. In the case of both men, neither one would have been given play calling responsibilities. The Packers, Browns, and Vikings all expressed interest in LaFleur while the Packers and Cardinals reached out on McDaniel.
- Meanwhile, assistant offensive line coach Adam Stenavich was permitted to accept the Packers’ offensive line coach position.
Latest On Packers’ Coaching Staff
The Packers made several moves today to help fill out new coach Matt LaFleur’s inaugural staff. First the team hired 49ers assistant offensive line coach Adam Stenavich to be their offensive line coach, sources told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports (Twitter link). We heard a couple of days ago Green Bay was granted permission to interview him, and now they’ve made the move. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweeted several hours before Maiocco broke the news that the Jets also had interest in Stenavich to be their offensive line coach. Stenavich was on the Packers’ practice squad in 2006 during his playing days as an offensive tackle.
The team is also hiring Kirk Olivadotti to be their linebackers coach, tweets Jim Owczarski of the Milwuakee Journal Sentinel. Up until now Olivadotti had served in the same position with the Redskins. LaFleur served on Washington’s staff as quarterbacks coach while Olivadotti was there, so the hire makes sense. LaFleur will also be retaining Jason Simmons, the secondary coach who has been on the staff in Green Bay since 2011, tweets Rob Demovsky of ESPN.
In a separate tweet Demovsky notes that the Packers completed their interview with Luke Getsy. A source told Demovsky that Getsy interviewed for both the quarterbacks and receivers coach openings, but left town without signing a contract. Jason Wilde of ESPN followed up with a tweet of his own, saying that quarterback Aaron Rodgers “thinks very highly of Getsy and has a lot of respect for him.”
Getsy served on the Packers’ staff under Mike McCarthy from 2014-17 before leaving to take a job as Mississippi State’s offensive coordinator last year. The Packers have been making a bunch of moves to bring guys in from different organizations, and are now close to filling out LaFleur’s staff.
49ers Retain Asst. DL Coach
- After hiring a new defensive line coach in Kris Kocurek, the 49ers will retain pass-rushing specialist Chris Kiffin, reports Matt Barrows of The Athletic. The son of Monte Kiffin and brother of Lane Kiffin, Chris Kiffin joined San Francisco in 2018 after previously serving in the college ranks.
Packers Notes: Staff, Jefferson, Dennison
New Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is interested in Dolphins assistant head coach/offense Shawn Jefferson, reports Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter links). If hired, Jefferson would likely join Green Bay as receivers coach, a role for for which Jets WRs coach Karl Dorrell has already interviewed. The Packers allowed their former wideouts coach — David Raih — to join the Cardinals’ new staff earlier this offseason. Jefferson, meanwhile, started his coaching career in 2006 with the Lions before moving on to Tennessee in 2013 and Miami in 2016.
Here’s more from Green Bay:
- The 49ers have granted the Packers permission to interview Adam Stenavich for their offensive line coach vacancy, according to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link). Stenavich, currently San Francisco’s assistant OL coach, joined the 49ers in 2017 after spending time in the NCAA ranks with Michigan, Northern Arizona, and San Jose State. Green Bay is on the hunt for a new offensive line coach after allowing James Campen, who’d been with the franchise since 2007, to take an assistant head coach/OL job with the Browns.
- In addition to Stenavich, Green Bay has interest in longtime NFL offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Rick Dennison, tweets Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. Dennison has long been a Gary Kubiak disciple, but surprisingly hasn’t followed him to Minnesota, where Kubiak is now an offensive advisor. Indeed, Dennison’s presence may have been a primary reason for Kubiak not becoming the Broncos’ OC, as Josina Anderson of ESPN.com indicated last week (via Twitter). Dennison spent 2017-18 with the Bills and Jets, respectively.
- The Packers will also interview Redskins linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti for the same role, tweets Grant Paulsen of NBC Sports Washington. Olivadotti, 45, has essentially been a Redskins lifer: he joined the club in 2000 as a defensive quality control coach, and has worked for the team in various roles ever since, save for a 2011-13 stint at the University of Georgia. He’s familiar with LaFleur, as the two worked together in the nation’s capital in 2010 while LaFleur was Washington’s quarterbacks coach.
- LaFleur will retain incumbent defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery and running backs coach Ben Sirmans, per Demovsky. At present, it appears Montgomery, Sirmans, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, and tight ends coach Brian Angelichio will be the only holdovers from previous head coach Mike McCarthy‘s staff. However, it’s unclear if Montgomery and Angelichio will remain in their current roles or take on new responsibilities.
- Despite spending the 2018 campaign as the Titans’ offensive coordinator, LaFleur will not bring any members of the Tennessee staff to Green Bay, tweets Paul Kuharsky of PaulKuharsky.com.