At start of free agency, five Trent Baalke draft picks still with 49ers
And then there were five.
At 1 p.m. Wednesday, at the start of free agency, punter Bradley Pinion and defensive back Jimmie Ward were officially not on the 49ers’ roster.
Pinion will reportedly sign a four-year contract with the Buccaneers, while Ward is, for the moment, an unrestricted free agent.
That means just five of the 31 draft picks made by former general manager Trent Baalke that were inherited by the new regime remain with the 49ers: safety Jaquiski Tartt, guard Joshua Garnett and defensive linemen DeForest Buckner, Arik Armstead and Ronald Blair.
That said, Ward could return to the team if he doesn’t receive the level of interest he’s seeking on the open market. General manager John Lynch has indicated the 49ers would likely be offering a one-year deal given Ward’s injury history: He’s played in 51 of 80 career games and has finished the year on injured reserve with broken bones in four of his first five seasons.
“We’ll see what the (free-agent) market holds for him,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said at the NFL combine. “… I love Jimmie Ward. I really hope to have him back. We all know he’s struggled a little bit to stay healthy. But he’s a guy, as a person, that I’ll go to war with any day. I really trust him. Really believe in him. And I love him as a player, too.”
Here are the 31 draft picks made by Baalke that Lynch and Shanahan inherited:
2010 draft
3rd round. LB NaVorro Bowman (released)
2011 draft
2. QB Colin Kaepernick (not re-signed)
5. C Daniel Kilgore (traded)
2013 draft
1. S Eric Reid (not re-signed)
2. DL Tank Carradine (not re-signed)
2. TE Vance McDonald (traded)
4. WR Quinton Patton (not re-signed)
5. DL Quinton Dial...