On Tuesday, the Titans inked Michael Griffin to a new five-year contract that CBSSports.com's Jason LaCanfora reported was worth $35 million. And that's great news for Griffin, but it could also end up being pretty good news for 49ers safety Dashon Goldson.
Goldson is currently franchise tagged by the club, which will pay him $6.2 million in 2012. But according to a report from Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com, the numbers Tennessee gave Griffin are "almost identical" to what Goldson's seeking from the 49ers.
Additionally, Maiocco reports that the Niners and Goldson's representation "continue to be in contact" about working out a long-term deal for the safety.
Goldson's situation is a little more interesting than Griffin's though. Griffin was a first round pick who played out his contract, got tagged and signed a new deal.
You might remember that Goldson, before 2011, turned down a five-year, $25 million deal from the 49ers because then-agent Drew Rosenhaus was going to get him $40 million over the same length. That didn't happen and Goldson ended up signing a one-year, $2 million deal with San Francisco.
He later canned Rosenhaus and hired CAA Football, which could be good news for these new negotiations: as Ryan wrote in February, CAA has a pile of 49ers clients who have worked out deals with the team.
Though the level of Griffin's deal would exceed what Goldson was slated to get last season, the 49ers got an absolute bargain in 2011 by paying the safety $2 million. They could potentially get another bargain by paying him just $6.2 million in 2012, but would risk losing Goldson to free agency (unless they re-tagged him) or potentially having to give him even more money if he has another big year.
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