When Mike Singletary gave his "State of the Franchise" speech last month, he cited three areas he sought to improve over the offseason. Two of them, the offensive line and return game, have received plenty of media attention over the last month. The third has not. During the event, Singletary said that veteran safeties Michael Lewis and Mark Roman got beat up over the course of the season and that the 49ers were not as fast as they wanted to be on the back end. "The speed factor began to play its role," he said.
One of those safeties, Roman, is no longer with the team. The other evidently was paying close attention to what Singletary said and to what the 49ers were doing, roster-wise, over the offseason. According to ESPN's Mike Sando, Lewis and the 49ers have worked out a new deal. Instead of the $4.1 million he was scheduled to earn this season, he will make $1.7 million with another $400,000 in bonus money. The final two years of the contract - calling for him to make $5.7 million in 2011 and $6.7 million in 2012 - have been eliminated. Lewis today declined to talk to reporters about the new deal.
Those large base salaries have been looming for a while and long have made Lewis' future with the 49ers a question mark. The new deal essentially guarantees that Lewis will be around this season but will likely part ways with the team in 2011 when he is an unrestricted free agent.
The fact that the 49ers spent a second-round draft pick on a young safety with speed, Taylor Mays, plays a role. But while Mays has been a quick learner this offseason, he still will require plenty of time to develop. Instead it's another young safety, Reggie Smith, who has put the immediate pressure on Lewis. Smith has filled in for Lewis with the starting defense when Lewis took time off from training camp and he is the team's No. 3 safety. Smith's role, at least in the beginning of the season, will be similar to Roman's last year. It will be interesting, however, to see if Smith starts to take away Lewis' snaps as the year goes on.
Lewis is a tough safety who excels in the box as a quasi fourth linebacker. He finished third on the team in tackles last season despite missing a game with a concussion, one of three he suffered a year ago. But he also can be victimized in coverage, especially deep, as was the case Saturday when Raiders tight end Zach Miller caught a 27-yard touchdown against him. Of course, Smith wasn't any better in that game. He gave up a 74-yard touchdown to Louis Murphy just before the first half ended.
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Before the Raiders game, Alex Smith was talking about how important it was to get Michael Crabtree onto the playing field this preseason. Smith was singing a different tune today when it came to his No. 1 wideout. "I don't know about Thursday," he said of Crabtree's presence. "Now it's almost time to get healthy and get ready to go." Smith said the focus now was all about next week and preparing to play the Seattle Seahawks.
-- Matt Barrows
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