49ers Blog and Q&A

I have a feeling that Demetric Evans' signing is a little bit bigger than we may initially have thought. His departure from the Redskins was disappointing to their fans, and I'm sure it was disappointing to his teammates. The Redskins once again are butting up against the salary cap and didn't even make an offer to Evans, who was on ESPN 980 radio in Washington D.C. this week. I transcribed the 49ers-specific parts.

On the difficulty of moving west when his wife is finishing up her medical residency at George Washington University in D.C."To me, that was the most important decision because ... now I'm going to be six hours away by flight. And knowing that she only came to Virginia to come be with me. That's why she took the opportunity to go to the George Washington program. And now for me to leave her at the end of this month and to be doing it until June. That's tough, and I actually could have signed on Monday. But I told (the 49ers) I've got to get back and talk to my wife and make sure that she understands the significance of this move and understands that this process happens fast and I'm going to be leaving in the next two weeks. And that's what I did and she got kind of emotional about it. But at the same time she understands it's only a year and she'll be done. It'll all work out for the best."

On whether moving from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense made his decision difficult?"It is going to be different. But San Fran actually brought me in for a visit the last time I was a free agent, and they definitely wanted me to come in on a one-year deal. But I told them it was too far for me to come for that. I had other interests. This time around it was the same thing, but what really made me more comfortable is that they wanted me and that I'm going out to compete for the starting job. And they put some money on the table, and it was worth my while this time around. ... A 3-4 - you know, Richard Seymour told me before free agency started, he said, man, if I was you, I definitely would try to go to a 3-4 team because you thinking you're sitting their two-gapping (but) a lot of times you're just hitting the gap. And that's what San Fran is doing. They're not just sitting there two gapping... (Note: Both Seymour and Evans played at Georgia. Both entered the NFL in 2001.)

How much impact did Mike Singletary have? Did he have an influence on you?"Yeah, for one he's a Christian guy and not only did he meet with me privately, he met with me in front of some of the defensive players. He was just cutting it clean and dry (with them) saying, 'Hey, we're bringing Demetric to compete for the starting job. Hey, I want you to meet him. Hey, this is Takeo Spikes, Walt Harris.' So that made me feel more welcome when the team knows why you're coming in there and to have somebody there introducing you to some of the guys, it was very personal."

-- Matt Barrows