NFC Notes: 49ers, Cardinals, Saints

49ers

49ers GM John Lynch admitted that once they signed Weston Richburg to a large contract, it was clear that they were going to have to find a trade for Daniel Kilgore.

“We thought about, do we play Weston at guard?” Lynch said, via Matt Maiocco of NBC Bay Area. “Ultimately, once we decided to invest in someone, you put him at his best position. That happens to be his best position and center is Dan’s best position, too.”

• According to Cam Inman, the 49ers aren’t in on free agent S Tyrann Mathieu and he doubts San Francisco will pursue WR Michael Crabtree.
• 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said he expects newly signed RB Jerick McKinnon to be the team’s starting running back in 2018. (Eric Branch)

Cardinals

• Kent Somers reports that there’s no update regarding free agent OL Justin Pugh and the Cardinals, but he has heard that Pugh’s physical came out fine.
• As for QB Sam Bradford, Somers mentions that his signing likely to be announced Friday morning and it looks like he passed his physical for Arizona.
• According to Adam Caplan, the Cardinals paid P Andy Lee a $1 million roster bonus on Thursday.

Saints

• Mike Triplett reports that the Saints received a $3 million salary cap credit, which he attributes to returned bonuses from former DT Nick Fairley’s contract. However, Triplett says that it’s still “unclear” if Fairley’s grievance has been resolved.
• Saints QB Drew Brees said he would have “loved” for the team to bring back TE Jimmy Graham, who signed with the Packers, but he decided to sign elsewhere: “I would have loved to have had him back. We have a great relationship, both on and off the field. Obviously, there’s a lot of chemistry there that would have fit in very, very nicely to what we’re doing. You also understand it’s the nature of the beast sometimes that that stuff doesn’t end up coming together.” (Herbie Teope)