49ers, Salary Cap, dumb writers

Mark Kreidler at ESPN doesn't agree with my optimism about the 49ers. He makes two or three good points and a ton of bad ones. Here we go:

The 49ers? They're all set to embrace Tim Rattay, who is 26-years young, cheap and unproven after two solid starts and one hideous breakdown in Green Bay last season.

14/30, 142 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. This compares to an average of 212 passing yards per game allowed by Green Bay last year. I can't find numbers for the other statistics. Not good, but not a horrible breakdown. Tim'll be alright.

Garcia: Gone. Terrell Owens: Presumed gone for months, now in trade-grievance limbo, but most assuredly never to play another down for the 49ers despite their crying need for a game-breaking receiver. Garrison Hearst: One-way ticket out of town.

...after he asked for it, when we signed Barlow to a long contract and clearly intended him to the be starter.

The offensive line: In "transition," a word you'll hear a lot this summer around the 49ers' Santa Clara training facility, after the team declined for financial reasons to retain three-time Pro Bowler Ron Stone and versatile Derrick Deese.

Yeah, I know. Good point. Very understandable 'financial reasons', though... it's called NFL regulations and the salary cap.

For years, during the fat-cat days of Eddie DeBartolo and his bottomless money pit, San Francisco was the franchise that didn't mind paying for the top two players at every position -- one to start for them, and the other one so he couldn't start for any other NFL team. Steve Young stood on the sideline holding Joe Montana's clipboard for three years. End of story. But that was long ago, long ago. The 49ers of today are the 49ers of John York, who announced he intended to run the club more like a "business" and has gone about doing so, right down to the point of going 7-9 and then stripping away much of the playmaking talent from even that club.

Again I say, salary cap. The 49ers can't spend that much any more, BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT ALLOWED TO. There is no indication in the article that salary cap considerations had anything to do with any of the 49ers moves. I can understand a disgruntled fan thinking this way... but a sports writer? Give me a break.