FanHouse JamieMartin

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

After the uneventful tenure of head coach Mike Nolan, the San Francisco 49ers decided to promote Mike Singletary to interim head coach during the 2008 season.

After a bizarre debut that saw Singletary address his team without pants, the 49ers finished the season on a 5-4 run under their new coach, ending the year with a 7-9 record. Had it not been for a confusing ending to a Monday night game against Arizona, the 49ers would have finished with a .500 record for the first time since 2002. So close, yet so far.

As we all know, the NFL's trade deadline is tomorrow at 4:00 pm EST, and unlike most years there's actually some buzz about potential deals. Maybe it's because there's a larger than normal number of crappy teams that are already out of playoff contention. Whatever the reason, it's going to make a random Tuesday in the middle of October somewhat interesting for football fans. Unless of course nothing happens, then it's just another random Tuesday in the middle of October for football fans.

Today, Lions beat writer Tom Kowalski reports that general manager Martin Mayhew "is involved in exploratory talks with teams about a handful of Lions players."

Naturally, it's a safe bet to assume that wide receiver Roy Williams is among those players. But as Kowalski speculates, quarterback Jon Kitna could also be drawing interest from a couple of teams, specifically San Francisco and Dallas.

Kitna told a media outlet on Monday that he didn't believe his back injury was serious and that he could return to action, possibly in a week or two. The Lions could deal Kitna for a conditional draft pick, protecting both the Lions and Kitna's new team. If Kitna starts for a certain amount of games, the draft pick goes up. If Kitna's back injury lingers and he can't play, the compensation would be reduced.

Clearly, the stellar performance from Dan Orlovsky yesterday, combined with his Montana-like field awareness, has made Kitna's services no longer needed in the motor city. Assuming the speculation is accurate.

The 49ers today signed free agent quarterback Jamie Martin, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. The team needed another quarterback after Alex Smith suffered a shoulder injury heading into week one.

The addition of the 38-year old Martin likely means Smith, the No. 1 pick of the 2005 draft, is headed to injured reserve, ending his season, and perhaps his career as a member of the San Francisco 49ers.

San Francisco general manager Scot McCloughan has already made it clear the only way Smith will be a member of the team in 2009, is if he were a clear-cut, no-doubt-about-it starter heading into the season. And to me, the only way that could happen would be if he somehow reclaimed his starting job before the end of this season, and led the team to many, many victories. Since his season is likely over, there's absolutely no chance that can happen now.

Hindsight is always 20/20, of course, but that No. 1 overall pick is looking pretty bad right about now.

Now that the Saints have officially lost (won?) the Trent Green sweepstakes, it's time to look in another direction for Drew Brees' backup. But they're not looking to get any younger than the 38-year-old Jamie Martin, who held the spot last year, as the interest in Green would indicate. Especially now that Mark Brunell is coming to town.

The team is meeting with Brunell today, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him signed by tomorrow. He can step in adequately if needed (although no Saints fan embraces that possibility), but his value lies mainly in his being another set of discerning eyes, almost as if he's another coach.

That player/coach role will have its greatest impact on Tyler Palko, the young guy being groomed for the future. Between Brees, Payton, highly-regarded quarterbacks coach Pete Carmichael Jr., and possibly Brunell, Palko has an excellent group to learn from, and he should be ready to step into the backup spot in another year. Palko is also, like Brunell, left-handed, adding another potential learning benefit. Brunell might not have much in the tank, but he's still got a lot to offer the Saints, and he's a much better option in my mind than Green.

"The Saints lost!! OMG!!!"

That's about the predominant mood among Saints fans today. Though everyone says it's just the preseason, you could find reactionary threads on Saints message boards from overzealous fans imploring the team to release (insert anybody except Jason Fife here). And no, there wasn't much to be happy about last night. But this wasn't even a preseason game, it was a glorified exhibition. No need to worry.

There were even some bright spots. The aforementioned Jason Fife, the team's third quarterback, put together the best (and only scoring) drive, and could conceivably wrest the backup job from Jamie Martin. Will Smith, who put together four tackles and a sack in limited action, is going to have a huge year. Backup defensive end Willie Evans also looked good, and could crack the lineup as the fourth end. Meanwhile, Kendrick Clancy looked very good at defensive tackle, the Saints' weakest position last year.

Most of all, the team can now go back to training camp at Millsaps and Sean Payton can use this as an excuse to whip them into better shape. Payton said the team played sloppy (they did), and that a game is never truly meaningless (it isn't), but I'm sure he's not really worried about their performance. That won't stop him from making those two-a-days a little more intense, however.