NFC Notes: 49ers, DeAndre Hopkins, Cardinals, Allen Robinson, Rams, Seahawks, Geno Smith

49ers

The NFL draft season seems to really kick into high gear during the NFL Scouting Combine as the prospects work out. And while the drills have value, they sometimes don’t tell the whole story, which is something a team like the 49ers will keep in mind. Had they put too much weight on S Talanoa Hufanga‘s performance in drills, they’d have missed out on one of their best late-round finds. 

“I think with Hufanga, the grade that we had on him — and it’s been a couple of years now, so I’m just going off of memory — but we had a pretty high grade on him really throughout the whole process,” 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters said via the Athletic’s Matt Barrows. “He got bumped down a little bit on a lot of teams’ boards because of how he performed in these types of drills (at the combine), which is only a small piece of the puzzle. His play on the field was awesome at SC and he was exemplary. We talked about it. He was a gold helmet. And those types of players usually end up playing if not to, then above their potential. So with Hufanga, and not just us but all the teams, it was just a matter of recency bias. The most recent thing we saw was that he dropped down to 200 pounds and he ran a 4.6. And that wasn’t the real him. Your eyes see something totally different when you watch him on Sundays. He’s one of the fastest guys on the field.”

• 49ers LS Taybor Pepper‘s three-year, $3.959 million deal includes a $450,000 signing bonus and base salaries of $1.08 million, $1.125 million and $1.255 million. His 2023 base salary is guaranteed and there’s an annual $25,000 workout bonus. (Over The Cap)
• Florida State S Jammie Robinson had formal meetings with several teams at the NFL Combine, including the 49ers, Bills, Falcons, Broncos, and Lions. (Justin Melo)

Cardinals

Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon was noncommittal about WR DeAndre Hopkins when asked if it’s possible he’ll be on the team next season.

“I’m not sure,” Gannon said, via Darren Urban of the team’s official site. “We are evaluating everyone. I know this – he’s a premier receiver you have to have a plan for (to defend). He limits you with how you have to play defense. … He’s a valuable asset for us.”

As for Kyler Murray‘s recovery from a knee injury, Gannon said they will have a plan in case he’s not ready to play. 

“If (Kyler) is not ready to go we will have a plan in place to play and win games with who we have playing quarterback for us,” Gannon said.

Gannon said he is being “pretty collaborative” with new GM Monti Ossenfort. 

“If you talk to Monti everything is going to be pretty collaborative,” Gannon said. “We’re going to lean on his side a lot, and he’s going to lean on our side. Ultimately it’s not about who is making the decisions but that we are making the right decisions for the Cardinals.”

• According to Mike Klis of 9News, the Cardinals are hiring former Eastern Michigan RBs coach Sam Sewell as a special teams assistant. 
• Illinois CB Devon Witherspoon had a formal Combine interview with the Cardinals. (Tom Downey)

Rams

• The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue notes one factor of the “mutual” aspect of the Rams’ release of LB Bobby Wagner was that Los Angeles didn’t try to shop Wagner in a trade, instead electing to give him more flexibility to pursue opportunities.
• In addition to Wagner and the uncertain status of CB Jalen Ramsey, Rodrigue says the Rams could look to trade or cut veteran OLB Leonard Floyd. However, cutting Floyd with nothing coming back would create just $3 million in cap savings and $19 million in dead money. Rodrigue also points out it would leave the Rams’ pass rush super thin. 
• The Rams weren’t able to close a trade for Panthers DE Brian Burns but Rodrigue writes they will continue to aggressively explore options to improve their pass rush, both long-term and with shorter-term fixes. 
• Rodrigue points out Rams WR Allen Robinson still has significant remaining guarantees on his contract in 2023, so a cut isn’t really an option and a trade would be difficult.
• However, she adds the team has experience in the past using a sliding scale where a team eats some of the money in a deal in exchange for a better draft pick, so if they’re willing to absorb the cost, it’s not inconceivable another team could give them a pick for Robinson. 
• Regarding pending Rams free agent DTs Greg Gaines and A’Shawn Robinson, one league insider told Rodrigue they thought Gaines’ market would be between $4 and $7 million a year, which is attainable for Los Angeles to match to keep him. Robinson’s market is harder to gauge coming off an injury but if he’s more expensive, Rodrigue predicts the Rams will let him walk and collect a comp pick. 
• Rodrigue adds the Rams want to keep S Nick Scott, but multiple teams are expected to be interested in him and a return to Los Angeles will depend on his market. 

Seahawks

Seahawks GM John Schneider said potentially signing QB Geno Smith to a long-term deal doesn’t close the door on possibly selecting a first-round quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft.  

“Because they don’t grow on trees,” Schneider said, via ProFootballTalk. “It’s very hard. It’s probably the hardest position to acquire a talent, a guy that everybody feels very confident in.”

While at the NFL Combine, HC Pete Carroll said they are “totally connected” to this year’s quarterback class and feel it’s a “rare opportunity” to have the No. 5 overall pick. 

“We are totally connected to the quarterbacks that are coming out,” Carroll said, via Brady Henderson of ESPN. “This is a really huge opportunity for us. It’s a rare opportunity. We’ve been drafting in the low 20s for such a long time; you just don’t get the chance with these guys. So we’re deeply involved with all that.”

Schneider confirmed they are doing “a lot” of work on this year’s quarterbacks. 

“A lot,” Schneider said. “Every year, honestly, we really look at it a lot. Like I said earlier, we haven’t picked fifth overall since we’ve been here. So yeah, I got out to see a lot of quarterbacks this year. It was pretty fun. But honestly, every year we’ve tried to do that, and we’ve tried to add quarterbacks.”

• Washington State LB Daiyan Henley said he met with the Seahawks at the Combine. (Bob Condotta)