Chiefs Trade Jonathan Baldwin To 49ers For WR A.J. Jenkins from KC Star
Andy Reid's patience with wide receiver Jon Baldwin seemed to be running out over the weekend. Reid was clearly becoming frustrated with repeated dropped passes and otherwise unproductive play from Baldwin, a starter and the Chiefs' first-round draft pick in 2011.
"I don't know about any crisis and all that,'' Reid said then when asked whether Baldwin had lost all of his confidence. "I can tell you that when given the opportunity in this league, you'd better catch the football.''
Reid's comment foreshadowed the move made by the Chiefs on Monday when they gave up on Baldwin. They traded him to San Francisco for A.J. Jenkins, another unproductive wide receiver once drafted in the first round.
Chiefs Acquire WR A.J. Jenkins Via Trade With 49ers For WR Jon Baldwin from The Mothership
Jenkins (6-0, 200) saw action in three NFL games with the 49ers in 2012. He originally entered the NFL as a first-round draft pick (30th overall) with San Francisco in the 2012 NFL Draft.
The former first-team All-Big Ten wide receiver with the Illinois Fighting Illini, Jenkins totaled 167 receptions, 2,432 yards and 19 TDs during his four years on campus.
Eric Berry Talks Football, Family And Fans from The Mothership
It's been an exciting camp for Berry, who was reunited with his childhood friend, Chiefs OL
Rokevious Watkins , signed by the team on August 3rd."A lot of people don't know," Berry said. "Him coming to the team, as much of a blessing as it is for him, it's a blessing for me too. He pushes me through certain situations and certain things. We spend a lot of time talking and just going over different scenarios and stuff we've been through in our life the past few years and since we were growing up and just seeing where we came from. It's just cool to have him up here. I have my friends on the team, like
Kendrick Lewis andJustin Houston , who I talk to and I consider those two brothers as well and just to have somebody that I grew up with as well, on the team, I think that helps me a lot too."Watkins sees the reunion with Berry the very same way.
Jags' Gabbert Will Start Against Chiefs Despite Injury from KC Star
Former Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert has a broken right thumb and will miss the next two preseason games, but Jacksonville coach Gus Bradley has tabbed him to start the regular-season opener against the Chiefs.
Makes you wonder how bad his competition, journeyman Chad Henne, must have been in the preseason.
Keeler: Baldwin Had All The Tools - Except The Ability To Catch The Darned Ball from FS Kansas City
In the spring of 2011, the University of Pittsburgh star wideout measured 6-foot-4 and change. He ran a 40 in 4.51. He boasted a vertical of 42 inches and a 6-8 wingspan. If Calvin Johnson was Megatron, Baldwin had the goods to turn himself into a pretty decent Starscream.
"You have to catch the football," coach Andy Reid had said during a conference call last Saturday.
Baldwin didn't. Period. Full-stop. End of story.
Chiefs Get Jenkins, 49ers Get Baldwin from ESPN
The 49ers picked Jenkins 30th overall last year. He appeared in only three games as a rookie and did not make a catch, even though he was healthy all season.
After another rough preseason showing against the Chiefs this past Friday night, there were questions whether the former Illinois star would even make the 49ers this season. He was targeted twice in the game, but failed to catch either pass. He had only one reception in the 49ers' preseason opener against Denver, but also lost a fumble.
Chiefs Trade Jon Baldwin To 49ers In WR Swap from FS Kansas City
"We keep shooting the ball to him and that's the thing, and you don't know what you will get out of him," offensive coordinator Doug Pederson told reporters Sunday. "If he is in a slump, and I don't think he is, I just think he needs to continue to focus and detail his work. Alex (Smith) has the utmost trust in him and is still going to throw him the football.
"You slowly work yourself out of, if he's down from drops or mental errors or whatever it is, you just work yourself out of it. You continue to press on. We always talk about short-term memory. You have to have it in this business and move on."
Only in this case, the Chiefs are doing exactly that.
Gresh And Zo's Summer School: Kansas City Chiefs from CBS Boston
Andy Reid and Alex Smith have joined the reigning worst team in the NFL, looking to turn things around quickly. Eric Fisher, drafted no. 1 overall, is the new left tackle. The guys notice an overall lack of depth throughout the roster, but do notice quality starters.
Kansas City Chiefs - Player Watch from The GlobalPost
WR Jamar Newsome has been battling for a roster spot but he didn't help his chances when he came down with a sprained ankle and also a shoulder injury against the 49ers.
DB Sanders Commings continues to sit out practice due to his broken clavicle. Head coach Andy Reid said he's still a number of weeks away from being able to practice or play. "That injury is normally six to eight weeks to heal," Reid said. "We've x-rayed it and it's healing nice, but he was injured on the 23rd of July. You have to be real careful of those and you have to lean towards that eight-week mark."
49ers Deal WR A.J. Jenkins To Chiefs For WR Jon Baldwin from USA Today
The odds of both players sticking with their new teams seem decent, considering each has a guaranteed base salary for 2013.
Jenkins' base salaries of $705,797 this season and $1,021,594 in 2014 are fully guaranteed. He has a $677,390 roster bonus due in March 2015 and a non-guaranteed base salary of $660,000 that season.
49ers Send A.J. Jenkins To Kansas city For Jon Baldwin from The Sacramento Bee
A.J. Jenkins and the Chiefs' Jon Baldwin were two of the big storylines from Friday's game in Kansas City because both continued to be disappointments with their respective teams. Now they'll both try to start over with the opposite team.
Is Jon Baldwin Running Out Of Time In Kansas City? from ESPN
I talked to ESPN's Matt Williamson about Baldwin. Williamson said he think Baldwin's career is still salvageable. But he might benefit from a change of scenery. While there are teams that are thin at receiver and there could be a modest market for Baldwin, the truth is, the Chiefs are not overly deep at receiver. They are counting on Baldwin this year.
If I were the Chiefs, I wouldn't give up on him yet. It's just his third year and his first with Reid. If Baldwin doesn't improve this year, then Kansas City should consider all of its options.
49ers And Chiefs Swap Disappointing Receivers In A.J. Jenkins-Jonathan Balwin Trade from Sports Illustrated
The San Francisco 49ers are one of the NFL's model organizations, but even the best front offices boot it from time to time. General manager Trent Baalke and head coach Jim Harbaugh didn't get a single start from anyone in their 2012 draft class last year, and first-round pick A.J. Jenkins was the biggest disappointment of all.
17-Day NFL Warning: 49ers And Chiefs Swap First-Round Busts, Continue To Be Smartest Guys In The Room from Grantland
The best things that can be said about Baldwin with regard to this trade are that it took two full years for Kansas City to give up on him, and his 41 career receptions are exactly 41 more than Jenkins's total. When Jenkins went without a catch for the Niners as a rookie, a frequent take was that the 49ers were so good on the personnel side that they could afford for a first-round pick to go an entire season without contributing. What we've learned since is that it didn't take long for them to learn Jenkins was no good.
Jim Harbaugh Won't Say Why A.J. Jenkins Fell Out Of Favor from The Contra Costa Times
"For those -- the scribes, pundits, so-called experts -- who have gone so far as to say that he's going to be a bust, should just stop," Harbaugh said a year ago. "I recommend that because they're making themselves look more clueless than they already did. I'll go on record: A.J. is going to be an outstanding football player."
On Monday, Harbaugh said Jenkins still could evolve into a top-flight player, referring to the transformation Cris Carter had when he left the Philadelphia Eagles and turned into a Hall of Fame wideout with the Minnesota Vikings.
Race And Sports Culture Series Features Authors, Former Players from Emory.edu
Emory Libraries will kick off a new "Race and Sports in American Culture Series" (RASACS) with a symposium Sept. 6-7, the first segment in a lineup of events inspired by the African Americans in Sports collection in its Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL).
The symposium begins with a Sept. 6 keynote address by New York Times sports journalist William C. Rhoden, followed by a Sept. 7 screening and discussion of "The Ghosts of Old Miss," and panel discussion with NFL Hall of Famer Willie Lanier and sports author/biographer Michael MacCambridge.
A.J. Jenkins Dealt From 49ers To Chiefs For Jon Baldwin from NFL.com
It's amazing how far Jenkins fell in San Francisco since being drafted in 2012. There were open questions about whether Jenkins would even make the 53-man roster. Chad Hall, among others, ran ahead of Jenkins in practice during training camp.
Seeing the Chiefs give up on Baldwin is even more surprising. The third-year pro was a first-round draft pick in 2011 by previous general manager Scott Pioli. Unlike Jenkins, Baldwin at least produced something at the pro level.
Some 49ers Stunned By A.J. Jenkins Trade from The Contra Costa Times
"I talked to him and told him real fast: 'Make the most of your opportunity. You wanted a fresh start and you got it, so go do it,' " wide receiver Kyle Williams said.
Williams referred to Jenkins as his "little brother," someone he tried to mentor both on the field and off it before Monday's news hit Williams "like a brick wall."
"It's a little shock because, to us, that's family going out the door," Williams added. "It's not a sigh of relief over here. I hate seeing him go."
On Paper, Baldwin Everything 49ers Seeking In A Starting WR from The Sacramento Bee
"If he works out, they've got a huge receiving group," NFL Films' Greg Cosell said of Baldwin and the team's only sure-fire starter, Anquan Boldin, who weighs 220 pounds. Cosell suspects that the always-serious and ultra professional Boldin was one of the reasons the 49ers decided to trade for Baldwin: The 24-year-old receiver is full of talent but could use a strong mentor.
Chip Kelly Has Energized Eagles Ticket Prices from CBS Philly
It does seem though, that Andy Reid as coach of the Kansas City Chiefs is an attractive thing for Eagles fans...
...The Chiefs game is the second highest priced game on the Eagles schedule.
Grant Cohn: Getting Baldwin In A Trade For Jenkins Is A Real Win For Baalke from The Press Democrat
The 49ers traded A.J. Jenkins to the Chiefs for Jonathan Baldwin Monday morning.
Hallelujah for the 49ers. Heaven help the Chiefs.
Why on earth would Kansas City trade anything for Jenkins? Why would they want him in the first place? Just this past Friday, they saw firsthand how bad he really is. Jenkins played 38 snaps and caught no passes against the Chiefs.
Vernon Davis: Jenkins Has To Change Approach from ProFootballTalk
"Maybe take his approach toward the game up a notch," Davis said when asked what Jenkins should do differently in Kansas City, via Matt Barrows of theSacramento Bee. "I think that be some he can benefit from. Just take his approach up a little bit more. Go above and beyond being a professional. . . .
"Not on the field. Not his game. I'm just talking away from the game. As far as studying habits - I think he had good study habits when he was here. Studying, being a professional, trying to help himself as well as helping other guys, the younger guys that come in. And just owning his position, embracing it and just going to the next level.
Why The Trade Of A.J. Jenkins Makes Sense from The San Francisco Chronicle
Meanwhile, the A.J. Jenkins experiment had run its course. They tried coddling him, yelling at him, supporting him, calling him out and nothing worked. After all of it, he regressed. No matter how hard they tried, they weren't going to get 20 catches out of him this season.
Jenkins also seemed to be unprepared. He might have gotten to the point where he was hating football and his 49ers' experience. When that happens, he's not going to put in the extra time to become a better player.
However, in Kansas City, he's not expected to be a major contributor.
Chiefs Unveil First Pieces Of Their New Art Program from KC Star
Chiefs fans can now enjoy a little art on their way to and from their seats. Those attending the preseason home opener were the first to see works in glass and metal dangling over the escalators and colorful landscapes decking the walls.
The paintings and sculptures were commissioned under the Chiefs Art Program, which aims to fill the stadium with art from regional artists.