It is my opinion that Pro Bowl Safety Dashon Goldson is unlikely to return to the 49ers this season. In fact, if I was a betting man, I would probably use something like this detailed guide to help me set …

The 49ers are reaching the point of roster maturity where they need some of their younger and cheaper players to start filling starting roles. They have amassed a ton of these players in recent drafts, some of which - like last year's class have had little to no play time. They also have a ton of picks in this years draft (which is pretty deep at safety) to find a few key younger players to bring the average starting salary on the team down.

The team invested heavily to keep Patrick Willis and Navorro Bowman together - they also have been working to keep the defensive line, outside linebackers and offensive line together. As they sink money into this mix, they need to be conscious of not spreading their dollars to thin. That likely means they will not give Goldson the best offer on the market - maybe not even the second best offer.

Of course, Dante Whitner has one more year on his contract with the 49ers, and the 49ers do have some depth at the position - but nothing quite like the tandem that Whitner and Golson brought. The highlights on NFL.com say it all... the two were imposing and ferocious in the defnsive backfield, and during the playoffs in particular.

What's more? It's a different regime running the 49ers now than it was when they got beat in the playoffs by Atlanta whose running back Jamal Anderson punished the 49ers secondary. Ever since that point the 49ers have gone with bigger, harder hitting safeties, guys like Goldson who can save that touchdown run and make the big hit in the open field. The different regime could mean either a departure from that or at least less focus on what did happen - so again, less likely to retain Goldson.

I think it's a shame that teams like the 49ers that draft well, build talent well ... do all the things right to get to the Super Bowl are punished in making tough decisions that prevent them from retaining their best talent - but that is the NFL as we know it in the salary cap era; and at the very least the 49ers have a front office that understands those numbers, arguably better than any other team. Free agency is almost upon us, where we willl get a true sense of the 49ers intentions, but expect the team to look quite different in the defensive backfield (and dare I say it - at receiver) than they did this year.