San Francisco 49ers: Braylon Edwards Signing Proves Patience Pays off

Patience was the preeminent theme echoing from 49ers land in the lead up to the free agency, and true to their word, Trent Baalke and co. stood by last week while seemingly everyone around them got better.  

Just when you thought there might be some truth to those Andrew Luck rumors, San Francisco went to work, signing a flurry of free agents culminating in Thursday’s pick-up of tumultuous, but talented, wide receiver Braylon Edwards.

The Edwards addition is great news if for no other reason than it keeps him away from the Cardinals.

The idea of watching the 49ers porous secondary try to deal with Edwards and Larry Fitzgerald twice next season should have been scary enough to get Jed York to break out his checkbook.

But on a more macro-level the Edwards singing validates the 49ers’ patient approach and shows the new brain trust has a long-term plan in place.

Despite what many considered a down year in for Edwards 2010 (his seven TDs would have tied for tops on the 49ers) he was expected to be among the most sought after receiving options on the free-agent market.

Desperately in need of another option at wideout, San Francisco could have jumped into the fray from the beginning and inked a notoriously inconsistent player to a long-term deal to ensure they got him.

Instead, they let the free-agent frenzy play out and when the music stopped and Edwards was left standing, San Francisco swooped in and snagged him on a one-year deal (rumored to be around $3.5 million).

Now the 49ers have ultra-talented and ultra-motivated wide out on the equivalent of a year-long try out.

If things go well, Edwards will be a solid complement to Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis, providing another option that defenses have to game plan against.

If things go great, Edwards will rekindle whatever mojo was working for him 2007, when he caught 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns and looked like he was on his way to becoming a legit superstar.

If things go poorly, San Francisco can bench him and his $3 million comes off the books next offseason.

It’s the kind of low-risk, high-reward signing that reeks of the kind of good judgment that hasn’t been smelled around Candlestick in a decade.