NFC West Notes: 49ers, Cardinals, Rams

February 28, 2018

49ers GM John Lynch said Wednesday that Keena Turner has been promoted to special adviser to the GM and Ethan Waugh has been promoted to director of college scouting. (Matt Barrows)
Lynch said that they’re scheduled to meet with Carlos Hyde‘s agent at the combine, but added: “We’ll see what happens.” (Matt Maiocco)
Lynch mentioned that he’s received reports that suggest OT Trent Brown is ahead of schedule in his recovery from shoulder surgery. (Matt Barrows)
The 49ers announced that they’ve have promoted DeMeco Ryans to inside linebackers coach. (Matt Maiocco)
Johnny Holland will now serve as the 49ers’ run-game coordinator and outside linebackers coach. (Matt Barrows)
Here’s what Lynch had to say about the ongoing situation involving LB Reuben Foster: “We’ve made it a part of our core principles, our core values, that we’re going to be transparent. We feel like the fans deserve to know. We want them to know. With this, we’ve been a little quiet. And that’s for a reason. There are certain places I can’t and won’t go because we’re dealing with an ongoing legal matter. That’s in everyone’s best interest.” (NBC Bay Area)

Regarding their plans for the quarterback positions, new Cardinals HC Steve Wilks said: “Steve Keim & I have been on the same page since day one…trying to come up w several options whether through trade, free agency, or the draft; or most importantly all three…we understand the importance of the position.” (Sirius XM NFL Radio)
Cardinals GM Steve Keim said that negotiations are ongoing with some of their free agents and they’re still hoping to re-sign “4 or 5” of them. (Darren Urban)
Keim said they are in the evaluation process with DB Tyrann Mathieu‘s contract. (Gregg Rosenthal)
As for veteran RB Adrian Peterson, who is rumored to be on the chopping block, Keim said he believes Peterson has “juice left in the tank” but they need to add more versatility at the running back position: “There’s no doubt that Adrian still has some juice left in the tank, particularly from a run-skill standpoint. He still runs with a lot of anger and aggressiveness, and has the type of contact balance you look for in that position. But in today’s day and age, we all know that you have to be able to catch the ball out of the backfield, you have to be able to do a lot of different things. So versatility is really a key.”

Rams HC Sean McVay said Wednesday that bringing back free agent S Lamarcus Joyner is “a huge priority” based on the success he had in DC Wade Phillips’ system in 2017. (Myles Simmons)
Alden Gonzalez’s sense regarding Joyner is that the Rams want to get a long-term deal done with him, but will use the franchise tag on him if they need to.
McVay is not ruling out the possibility of bringing back free agent CB Trumaine Johnson, even after trading for CB Marcus Peters and the move “independent” of Johnson: “We know what a good product Trumaine put out there last year. There’s a reason why he was a player that you used the franchise tag on the last two years. I do think he’ll be highly-sought-after in free agency, but in an ideal world, we would like to be able to get Trumaine back on our team.” (Alden Gonzalez)