The San Francisco 49ers have been relatively quiet thus far this offseason - you know, other than firing head coach Jim Harbaugh and making the altogether unexpected decision to pass over assumed in-house favorite, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, and hiring former defensive line coach Jim Tomsula.
Otherwise, all's quiet on the West(ern) Coast front.
According to a report from Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, that may all be about to change though.
"The 49ers, who are trying to secure Darnell Dockett, will also be players in the market for Cole from what I hear," La Canfora tweeted late Wednesday.
Cole, of course, refers to Trent Cole, the recently released outside linebacker formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Cole is a ten-year NFL veteran who made the switch to 3-4 outside linebacker upon head coach Chip Kelly's arrival in Philly after eight highly effective season's sacking NFL quarterbacks from the defensive end position in Andy Reid's preferred 4-3.
He finished last season with just 6.5 sacks, the third-lowest total of his career, as well as only 52 tackles. He's still a very effective player despite the lowered totals and may fit best in a complementary, backup position at this point in his professional life.
He's also the type of strong veteran that new NFL head coaches often bring in to help stabilize locker rooms and aid in the transition to a new regime.
A similar thought process applies to Dockett.
The 34-year-old Dockett is in his 12th NFL season. He finished last year with 46 tackles and 4.5 sacks for the Arizona Cardinals - the only NFL team he's ever played for - who released him a matter of days ago.
ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted early Wednesday that Dockett was expected to choose between the 49ers and a return to the Cardinals sometime soon.
With Tomsula looking to start fresh - hard to do with a team and organization he was already a part of prior to his hiring as head coach - veterans like Dockett and Cole can aid in the process while offering a professional blueprint for younger players to follow on how to train, prepare and carry themselves as professionals.
