Smith reworks contract to avoid being cut….my jersey is still good!

Since Alex Smith has come to the niners, it’s been a pretty big disappointment. He was adamant about one thing though, he wanted to stay in with the Niners.

Thanks to this, Smith was able to rework the final 2 years of his contract and stay with the 49ers. According to a source, Smith will make $4 million a season in 2009 and 2010, in addition to base salaries that weren’t immediately made known.

In his previous contract, he was scheduled to make $24.6 million in the final two years.

“We have reached an agreement with Alex and his agent to keep him as a member of the San Francisco 49ers,” general manager Scot McCloughan said in a statement. “Alex expressed a deep interest to remain with the team and that feeling was mutual.” Other teams had shown interest in Smith, who is only 24 years old and has four years of NFL experience. Those teams were willing to pay him more than his 49ers deal, according to a source, but Smith was insistent on making something work in San Francisco.

Smith, the first pick in the 2005 draft out of Utah, had 30 starts in his first three seasons, but was placed on injured reserve for the entire 2008 season because of a shoulder injury.

His best season may have been in 2006, when he completed 257-of-442 passes for 2,890 yards, with 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Part of his rocky path may be because of the 49ers’ annual change in offensive coordinators — Smith has had a new one in each of his four seasons.

I like this move a lot. I haven’t given up on Smith and think he still deserves to be the #1 quarterback. Also, now my Alex Smith jersey can still be worn for at least one more season! WOO HOO!

Hopefully he is healthy in camp and wins the job. Now we just need someone to block for him and someone to catch his passes… oh, and someone who knows what they are doing to call the plays would be nice.

The Dirty Warrior

Goodbye Anthony Randolph, hello Dirty Warrior. We’ve seen impoved play by the rookie forward for the better part of the past few weeks, yet we’ve never seen him put all his qualities on display in one single game. Well, I think last night we got a pretty good glimpse of the total package, which was filthy. Randolph simply kept the Warriors in the game for stretches at a time. His energy, shot blocking and finishing around the rim is really impressive.

There is one thing that is a little concerning however… it seems to me that even though he is a quick jumper (a la lot of blocks), on the offense of zone it doesn’t look like he has much lift? Even his dunks, it doesn’t look like he is really getting up that high. I know a couple games ago we saw him on the break away take off for a dunk and he ended up being like 2 feet short because he had no lift. Maybe he’s tired? Who knows, but hopefully as he gets stronger his jumping gets a little more consistent. A 6′11″ athlete like himself should be skying above the others.

Anyways, the dubs lost, which is fine, I’m more concerned with watching our young guys play anyways so we can access next year. I wish Brandon Wright was around, would love to watch him get a bunch of playing time. Maggette had a good game too, he is a dope 6 man. 6 man of year next season.