STANFORD – Chip Kelly is certainly not surprised the 49ers’ personnel department remained mostly quiet during the first week of free agency.
General manager Trent Baalke and Paraag Marathe, who manages the team’s salary cap, took the approach of sitting back and letting the big-spenders spend their money and dish out the lucrative contracts while the 49ers waited for the market to settle.
“Trent, Paraag and those guys had a great plan going into it, in terms of how they looked at it,” Kelly said. “I think some of it goes crazy right at the beginning.
“I think you just have to look at who fits and who’s the right fit for the organization. I don’t know if it’s let big money deals go or not go, it’s just what exactly are you looking for. Our guys do a great job of targeting what we want the San Francisco 49ers to be, and see how it works out from a contract standpoint.”
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The 49ers on Thursday agreed to terms with their first potential starter to be added to the roster in free agency, a source confirmed to CSNBayArea.com. Guard Zane Beadles is scheduled to visit the 49ers on Thursday or Friday, Kelly said.
Kelly said there are a lot of elements to take into account when entering free agency, including how a player fits into the salary structure of the team.
“Are we going to take this player and pay him more than anybody on our team? And is that player worth more than anybody on our current team?” Kelly said. “You also have to kind of look at that.
“Some of the money that was being thrown around at the beginning, you got to be able to manage that. You got to pay some guy who’s never been to a Pro Bowl that’s going to make more than anybody on your roster. That’s a little bit difficult. There are a lot of things that get involved in some of these things.”
There were 99 players signed on the first three days of free agency, and only 10 of those players made an initial Pro Bowl roster (does not include players later added as alternatives). Only three of those players made the Pro Bowl in 2015.
NOTES: Former St. Louis Rams assistant linebackers coach Joe Bowden has been hired to replace Hardy Nickerson on the 49ers' staff, Kelly said. Nickerson left the 49ers to join Lovie Smith as Illinois' defensive coordinator.
Former NFL coach Kevin O'Connell will be in charge of special projects. Tem Lukabu, former linebackers coach at Western Michigan, will be defensive quality control coach.
