49ers May Consider Offering LT Joe Staley A New Contract

Bill Williamson of ESPN.com is “hearing whispers” that there is still a chance that the 49ers could work out a long-term contract for LT Joe Staley.

• Williamson adds that Staley is still expected to play out his contract, even without a new contract.

Previous reports have mentioned that San Francisco has given consideration to possibly reworking Staley’s contract given that he has already outplayed the agreement deal.

The 49ers have a little over $5.9 million in available cap space to work with and WR Michael Crabtree is entering the final year of his rookie contract, so it will be interesting to see what they elect to do in the coming months. 

Staley, 29, signed a nine-year, $43.66 million contract that included $18 million guaranteed back in 2009. He still has four years remaining on his contract and stands to make just $2.7 million for the 2014 season.

As of now, Staley has a $3.4 million cap figure for the 2014, which is pretty good for a top-10 left tackle.

Staley hasn’t missed a single game in the past three seasons and was Pro Football Focus‘ No. 6 offensive tackle last year with very good ratings in both run and pass-blocking.