It's Official, Niners Sign Moss, CB Perrish Cox

Well, if you've been following the frenzy that is NFL free agency, which officially begins this afternoon, then you know that it was no secret that the 49ers had in Randy Moss for a workout Monday. I wasn't expecting things to move this quickly, but apparently the Niners not only liked what they saw in Randy, but also liked what he had to say as the two parties spent nearly all day together.

As I said in our previous post, I like this move. It's a low-risk, potentially huge payoff signing, as the 49ers will be giving him a base salary filled with incentives. It puts the ball in Moss' court so if he wants to earn some reasonable cash this season, he's going to have to produce. If you look at the last full season Moss had with one team, in 2009, he put up a 1,000+ receiver with 10 TD's. Granted, he did have Tom Brady throwing him the ball, he's put up numbers in every season he's played before being bounced around like a ping pong ball in 2010, playing for 4 different teams during the season. Anyhow, there are plenty skeptics on this deal, but to those people, I say look at the terms of this thing. Like with Braylon Edwards last season, if it doesn't pan out, you axe him and no harm, no foul. Randy Moss has incredible talent and is motivated to have a comeback season, and at 34 years-old coming off a year in which he did not play (fresh legs), you'd have to think he's got some more, high-caliber football ability in that body. One thing it does do is give the 49ers a big target on the outside for Alex Smith to throw to. Last season, the biggest target he had was the 6'3" Vernon Davis, but he's a TE and isn't even involved in every passing play, so the 6'4", speedy Moss should be a welcome addition. I don't think Moss is the ultimate answer, and I think the 49ers still have another wideout or two they're planning on bringing in. Atlanta's Harry Douglas could give them a legit, fast slot guy with Moss and Crabtree wide, and would really spread out the offense. Also, I know they think very highly of Stephen Hill, Gerogia Tech's speedy 6'2" receiver who dominated the combine.

Randy Moss isn't the only questionable character the 49ers added, who missed the 2011 season this week, as they brought in former Denver Bronco cornerback Perish Cox. The young corner has had all kinds of off-field issues in his young career, which is ultimately the reason why he didn't play in 2011, but if you talk to Bronco fans that saw him play in 2010, they'll all tell you the guy can cover. He was a fifth rounder in that 2010 draft, but dropped a few rounds because of his off-field life, which has apparently haunted him since his teenage days. I don't like this signing as much as the Moss deal, because the 49ers gave Cox two years and I just think there were a lot of other corners out there in this deep FA market that could have been better options than Cox. This also makes me wonder what their plan is for Carlos Rogers and if this signing seals his fate as a 49er? I'm expecting Rogers to sign elsewhere, because I think he out-performed himself in 2011, and can only go down from here. However, I'm still hoping they're looking into other number1 type corners cause I don't think Cox is an adequate replacement for Rogers. This is another area that could be addressed early on in the draft, but I think the 49ers saw last season what a good veteran corner can do for a defense and they probably will be looking for another guy like Rogers in this class. One that comes to mind is the Giants' Aaron Ross, who like Rogers, isn't the fastest guy, but physical and a strong tackler.