New Guy´s » team — and its detriment to players. If the 49ers

JACKSONVILLE Christian Wilkins Jersey , Fla. (AP) — Quincy Williams didn’t get an invite to the NFL combine. He didn’t have a pro day at Murray State. He didn’t even think he would get drafted, at least not in the third round.He ended up being Jacksonville’s biggest, maybe boldest, reach in the NFL draft.The Jaguars chose the 5-fooot-10, 225-pound linebacker — best known for being Alabama star Quinnen Williams’ older brother — with the 98th overall pick during the three-day event. The selection was so surprising that NFL Network couldn’t dig up his highlights immediately.Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell spent 10 minutes defending the decision, explaining the team had no fourth-round pick, couldn’t find a trade partner and thought Williams was one of the last linebackers available with “some starter traits.”Now, given the uncertainty of Telvin Smith’s future in Jacksonville, Williams could end up filling a potential hole in the defense.Smith is skipping voluntary workouts and hasn’t returned calls from team officials, raising speculation that he could be on the trading block. Caldwell and personnel chief Tom Coughlin denied reports that Smith is available. But Caldwell also stopped short of saying he expects Smith, a Pro Bowl selection in 2017, to be on the roster this fall.“We’ll see. We’ve got time. Like Coach (Doug) Marrone said, these are all voluntary situations,” Caldwell said. “We’ll see what happens and start a dialogue there. … I don’t want to go into hypothetical situations.”Williams played in 43 games at Murray State, notching 231 tackles http://www.dolphinsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-michael-deiter-jersey , nine pass breakups and three interceptions and three forced fumbles.“I’m very confident in my abilities,” he said. “”The biggest thing is me being dependable. My work ethic was huge, too.”Mark Ellenz, Jacksonville’s director of college scouting, said the pick went from getting panned to getting praised.“We didn’t take him to make a splash,” Ellenz said. “I know my phone is getting blown up by people and I see the stuff, the bloggers and everything, and they’re like, ‘Who is this kid? What a wasted pick!’“And then they go and watch his (highlights) and go, ‘Oh, great pick.’ So just be patient with it and let’s see what happens.”Here are some other things to know about Jacksonville’s draft:WHO THEY GOTThe Jaguars feel like they landed two first-round draft picks, one with Kentucky defensive end Josh Allen at No. 7 overall and another with Florida right tackle Jawaan Taylor in the second round. They also chose San Jose State tight end Josh Oliver (third), Temple running back Ryquell Armstead (fifth), Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew (sixth) and Auburn defensive tackle Dontavious Russell (seventh).SURPRISE MOVENot drafting a safety. Jacksonville parted ways with 2018 starters Barry Church and Tashaun Gipson, leaving Rodney Harrison and Jarrod Wilson to man the position and little depth behind them.HOW THEY DIDThey filled glaring holes at right tackle and tight end.WHAT’S NEXT?Figuring out who will be the team’s backup quarterback behind Nick Foles. Jacksonville has Cody Kessler Garrett Bradbury Jersey , Tanner Lee, Alex McGough and now Minshew vying for the position. Minshew has to be the favorite, especially after the way Coughlin and Caldwell gushed about his ability and intangibles. For at least the last five years, the San Francisco 49ers have used a subtle, and apparently non-negotiable, device to maximize their options in any/every given year regarding players with payments due to become fully guaranteed. Whereas most teams use guarantee triggers within the first few days after the waiver period in February or the first few days of the new league year in mid-March, the 49ers push the deadline all the way to April 1.This gives the team a full opportunity to look around at all available options before renewing the commitment to the player by letting the guarantee vest instead of cutting or trading him. The 49ers can simply acquire an upgrade, and they can then cut or trade the player before the payment becomes fully guaranteed.Agents privately have been complaining about this tactic for a long time. In a profile of Wasserman agents Doug Hendrickson and C.J. LaBoy from Vic Tafur of TheAthletic.com, Hendrickson complains openly about it.“The Niners’ contracts are bullsh-t,” Hendrickson tells Tafur. “They are team-friendly deals, they do the triggers in April versus normally in March and no one has really had the leverage to change it.”LaBoy added that Colin Kaepernick’s much-hyped long-term deal from 2014, which wasn’t worth nearly as much as his then-agents leaked to multiple reporters, “perpetuated the problem,” because “he took the sh-ttiest deal in terms of structure.”The player currently at the mercy of said sh-tty structure, masterminded and implemented by 49ers executive Paraag Marathe http://www.vikingsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-irv-smith-jr.-jersey , is quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. As Tafur notes, Garoppolo’s rolling guarantee structure delays the conversion of $15.7 million of his $23.8 million 2020 base salary until April 1.This allows the 49ers to look at each and every veteran quarterback who is or who may be available (including, possibly, former Kyle Shanahan pupil Kirk Cousins) before cutting the cord on Garoppolo. It also gives the 49ers a chance to evaluate the incoming class of rookie quarterbacks at the Scouting Combine and, for most if not all of them, their Pro Day workouts. The 49ers also could accelerate the visit/workout timetable for the rookies in which they may have interest before having to make their decision about Garoppolo.That’s the benefit of the structure to the team — and its detriment to players. If the 49ers don’t dump a guy like Garoppolo until April 1, teams looking for veteran quarterbacks may already have made other arrangements before Garoppolo hits the market.Of course, the more likely reality is that teams will know Garoppolo is available, because the 49ers would try to trade him before cutting him. Still, the 49ers surely wouldn’t commence that process before acquiring a new quarterback, or developing confidence about a quarterback who will be targeted in the draft.That’s the benefit of a structure that the 49ers — and only the 49ers — successfully impose on veteran players, with no one (other than Hendrickson) calling them out for doing it.Not that it makes a difference. Since re-signing Kaepernick in 2014, the 49ers haven’t returned to the playoffs once.