Another item that might end up having a big impact on the Niners this upcoming season:

The Raiders have traded with Seattle for QB Matt Flynn. And the story floating around is that the Raiders are in talks with Arizona to trade Carson Palmer to the Cards for a couple of late round picks next year and the year after.

Could happen. The Raiders can't keep both Palmer and Flynn. And that deal would finally give Arizona a professional QB. Something they haven't had for a very long time.

Palmer isn't a great QB. He's 33, and he's been banged around quite a bit. But playing on a gawdawful Raider team last season he did throw for 4,018 yards, 22 TDs and 14 ints. And that ain't bad considering what he had to work with.

Arizona has a solid Defense already. And they have Receivers. If they can fix their O-Line, they might be a serious problem.