Where will Jerry Rice wind up?

[Dre2g]

Maybe the most off-the-radar-screen topic of the NFL's offseason thus far is where the greatest receiver to ever play the game will wind up hanging his helmet in 2001. Still two-and-a-half months shy of Jerry Rice's expected departure day from San Francisco, not even his longtime agent, Jim Steiner, has a gut feeling about whose colors his most decorated client eventually will don.

"No one really knows," Steiner said. "I can't tell you. I wish I could, but I just don't know. There have been conversations with people. But talk is cheap this time of year."

Rice, of course, will be released by the 49ers in a salary-cap move after June 1. Oakland, Detroit, Seattle and Cleveland have all been rumored to have interest in Rice, but so far, no one is sending any strong smoke signals his way.

The most tempting scenario for Rice might be the Raiders. What would be more satisfying than staying in the Bay Area and enjoying success on a legitimate Super Bowl contender? By opting for the Lions, Seahawks or Browns, Rice would be going with the familiarity factor. All three teams have a strong ex-49er presence in the front office or coaching staff. While the Browns might end up showing the strongest interest in the first-ballot Hall of Famer, that doesn't necessarily mean he'll sign with Cleveland.
CREDITJerry Rice and Other things (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/don_banks/news/2001/03/15/banks_insider/)
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I'm not really sure where he will end up. I wish he could stay with the 49ers of course, but that is almost impossible. I guess the only team I would want him to go is to the Browns, where most of the old 49ers staff is from.

[H. Tiemann Jr.]

I still think and I have said all along that he will end up in Oakland. I'm still surprised that they have not contacted him yet.

[Marc]

As I've said before, I think a team would have to be crazy to sign Rice. One, he costs a ton of money, and two, he isn't very dominating anymore - just average, IMO.

[Tom Baker]

Rice is no longer the best receiver in the league but I think a defense still has to respect his ability. I mean, you can't leave him uncovered or afford to relax against him. It depends on the price, but with these older free agents like Flutie, Bruce Smith, Darrell Green, etc, signing rich multi-year contracts beyond the time when they will probably be able to play, I can see some team doing it.

[Spike]

So anybody here have any thoughts on Jerry Rice being a Raider?

I wonder what this means for their own free agent Wide Receiver Andre Rison. I wonder if they'll try to re-sign him. They already gave Rice, Rison's #80. That probably won't endear Rison too much.

I still think Rice is still productive, but he's no longer a deep threat. He can no longer separate from defensive backs like he used to so Rice like Rison is a possession receiver.

What the Raiders really need is a consistent deep threat and they've been waiting on James Jett to be that guy for a while. And I don't know what happened to Jerry Porter. They were high on him before.

It'll be interesting to see if Rice is satisfied not being "the guy" here. Tim Brown is obviously the guy. And Charlie Garner also catches some balls. Will Jerry not complain about the limited opportunities he'll have getting the ball? If I was a Niner fan, I'd probably be more mad at that, that the Raiders signed Garner away from them than Rice. Because while the Niners still have Owens and Stokes at Wide Receiver, Garner going across the Bay to Oakland leaves them with a big question at Running Back.

Originally posted by H. Tiemann Jr.:

I still think and I have said all along that he will end up in Oakland. I'm still surprised that they have not contacted him yet.

Nice call, Howard. :)

[iFroggy]

Yeah... good call Howard.

I don't like the Raiders, but I like Rice and I am glad that he will continue playing.

[Marc]

If I were him at that stage in my career, I'd call it quits, but I'm happy he was able to get signed to a team close by in California.

[Anthony]

All the talk out here (I live in San Francisco) is how "mean" the 49ers are being to Rice, just like they were to Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott etc. But I say the late Joe Thomas was right - sometimes you just gotta be heartless! Which brings to mind my favorite Joe Thomas story: Back in 1972, when Thomas was general manager of the then-Baltimore Colts, he ordered head coach Don McCafferty to bench Johnny Unitas and start Marty Domres at quarterback, after the Colts had gotten off to a 1-4 start. McCafferty refused, and owner Bob Irsay sided with Thomas and fired McCafferty, naming assistant John Sandusky as interim coach. Thomas, for his part, had an awesome sound bite for media consumption: "If you're going to lose, you might as well lose with young players so they may grow and mature together." (In an ironic twist, Thomas ended his career - and his life - as the 49ers' general manager, dying while holding that job in the late '70s).