49ers eyed Talib
Before Aqib Talib became a Los Angeles Ram, he was on the verge of becoming a San Francisco 49er.
The Broncos were in discussions to ship their star cornerback out West to save salary cap space and move forward with their younger cornerback, Bradley Roby. An agreement was in place but quickly nixed.
And soon after, Talib was reunited with defensive coordinator Wade Phillips in Los Angeles.
“I look at it like the final chapter of my NFL career, that fourth quarter,” Talib said later. “What better place to do it in than L.A.?”
During a recent interview on ESPN’s “Golic and Wingo” show, San Francisco general manager John Lynch explained why the 49ers later turned their attention to Richard Sherman.
“About a week prior (to signing Sherman), we had agreed to a trade for Aqib Talib, and that didn’t work out,” Lynch said. “It’s not that he didn’t want to be a Niner; (coach) Kyle (Shanahan) and I, actually with permission from (Broncos general manager John) Elway, got on the phone with Aqib, and he didn’t like the whole idea of getting traded and not having control over the situation.
“If he was traded, he wanted to play for a couple people that he knew real well: (Bill) Belichick or Wade Phillips. We talked to him and got him excited about the Niners, but ultimately he wanted to back up the Brinks truck. It wasn’t making sense, so we moved on.”
Although Talib had two years remaining on his current contract, he could have vowed to not report to the 49ers unless he received a new deal. The Rams took on his contract as is.
In the end, Talib’s trade to the Rams and the 49ers’ signing of Sherman seemed to benefit both on paper; each team bolstered its secondary with a star veteran. The Rams arguably have the best defensive backfield in the NFL now: Talib, Marcus Peters, Sam Shields and Nickell Robey-Coleman.
The Broncos, meanwhile, lost a star cornerback and defensive leader, but they cleared $11 million in needed cap space to use in free agency. Four days after reaching an agreement with the Rams for Talib, Denver agreed to terms with quarterback Case Keenum.