NFC Notes: 49ers, Saints, Seahawks

49ers

San Francisco also brought in heavy competition at cornerback, where new CB Jason Verrett is expected to compete with CB Akhello Witherspoon for the No. 2 corner spot. 

“The opportunity is there for me,” said Verrett via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “Wide open. It’s just there for me to take. It’s just for me to get back healthy and get back there on the football field and do what I love to do.”

Verrett has only played in five games the past three seasons, but has been a high-level player when healthy.  After a strong rookie year, Witherspoon was benched twice in 2018. 

49ers DC Robert Saleh said Witherspoon had been “getting refocused, and just understanding that in this league, the three most dangerous words are ‘I got it.’”

“As soon as you think you’ve got it, you’ve lost it,” Saleh said. “… It’s a good lesson for everybody: You never have it in this league.”

Saints

• Saints C Max Unger said he made the decision to retire because he doesn’t think he could make it through another season due to some health issues. (Josh Katzenstein)
• Unger added that he’s had long-term lower body issues that have made it hard for him to get into a stance. (Josh Katzenstein)
• According to Unger, his play dropped rapidly last year and he didn’t feel like he was playing up to his standard. Unger said the Saints knew about his plans to retire before free agency. (Larry Holder)

Seahawks

• Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that it would trade multiple first-round picks for the Giants to pull off a trade for Seahawks QB Russell Wilson including both first-round selections this year and possibly another next year.
• As for a long-term extension, Rapoport says the Seahawks and Wilson haven’t opened negotiations on an extension. However, Rapoport believes it could make sense for Seattle to try to get an agreement in place sooner than later, as the price is likely to only increase if they wait.
• Earl Thomas tells Peter King that his middle finger gesture from last year, while he was being carted off, was directed at Seahawks HC Pete Carroll: “A lot of frustration that day. I was in a battle with the team, and I chose to play, and I was betting on myself. So when it happened, it just added to my frustration. I did what I did, and I saw Pete Carroll, and I just was like, ‘You won. You won.’ Just a very disappointing day.”