In the midst of a contract year, 49ers’ Whitner hopes to stay
Outspoken San Francisco 49ers’ safety Donte Whitner is in the midst of a contract year. Like Dashon Goldson before him, he expects to receive a nice chunk of change this offseason from someone. Whitner hopes that team is San Francisco.
"“There’s no news on that front,” Whitner said, according to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “I want to be here, but like every team they have whatever they’re going to do. They have their (salary) cap, they have guys that they want to be bring back. I don’t know. We have five regular-season games left, so we’ll see where it goes from there. I definitely want to be here. I think we have something special on this defense. Young guy like (rookie) Eric Reid, I like playing with him. I like this secondary and the rest of the guys. I like coming to work. So we’ll see what happens.” [San Francisco Chronicle]"
Whitner was chosen to the 2012 Pro Bowl team and is enjoying another all-around quality season in 2013. This year marks the end of his 3-year $11.75 million contract.
San Francisco ranks 3rd in the NFL against the pass, giving up just 206.2 yards per game. It might behoove the 49ers to keep him and their current defensive backfield intact, but time will tell what their priorities will be this offseason.