LAYOFFS COMING FOR THE NINERS, TOO?

With the Redskins and the Browns laying off more a chunk of employees in recent weeks, we’re told that the San Francisco 49ers could soon be laying off employees as well. As we hear it, only a handful of layoffs are expected in San Fran. The Browns recently laid off 15 employees, and the Redskins released more than 20. The theory in some circles is that the teams are using the current economic climate as justification for an effort to examine the overall operations and reduce unnecessary costs. Two areas of potential vulnerability are, as we understand it, web content and in-house legal counsel. One source tells us that the NFL could be supplying more of the content to team-specific sites. Another source says that there’s a feeling that multiple teams will trim the number of lawyers that they directly employ. Another area where cuts could be made is salary cap management. With the last capped year streamlining the process of negotiating contracts (due to the unavailability of most of the gimmicks used in the past to create web space), there’s simply not as much of a need for such expertise as in past years. And there might be zero need for capologists next year. Absent an extension to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, there will be no salary cap at all in 2010.