In exchange, the 49ers received only a late-round draft pick from the Seahawks.

Balmer left 49ers training camp to attend to a personal issue and did not return for more than a week.

He still has not given a reason for his absence, but the 49ers were very concerned that he just disappeared.

It must have been something that really upset the 49ers to have traded Balmer to a division rival for literall nothing in return.

Balmer, just 23-years old and a former first-round selection, had a lot of potential but little in the way of maturity.

Balmer left the 49ers to tend to personal business, but he hasn’t been in contact with the organization.

It’s take much longer than necessary for Balmer to take care of whatever situation he is faced with.

The 49ers general manager and head coach are different from the time the team drafted him, so there are no great ties to keep him in San Francisco.

It’s likely that he will be released or traded in the coming days if things don’t turn around in a hurry.

The deadline for players who were given the franchise tag to receive a long-term contract has passed.

Franklin has still not signed his tender and may not elect to do so, enabling him to sit out of training camp.

So long as the team does not give Franklin the franchise tag for the second year in a row, he will become an unrestricted free agent.

The 49ers may want to see Franklin put together back-to-back seasons before throwing lot of cash his way.

Mays has impressed the coaching staff so much in the offseason that he is in consideration for a starting spot.

The second-round selection out of USC didn’t have to go very far when he was drafted, which may have helped his comfort level.

It also didn’t hurt that Mays has freakish athletic ability and just needed to become more solid in his technique.

Head coach Mike Singletary loves hard-nosed, hard-hitting football players, so this is the perfect fit for Mays.

After going 8-8 and nearly reaching the playoffs last season, the San Francisco 49ers feel like they are on the road back to being a contender in the NFC.

The National Football League’s schedule-makers apparently have notice the strides made in the City by the Bay.

The NFL has released the game dates and times for the 2010 season, and the 49ers will play ¼ of their games in prime time this fall.

The season opens with three road games in San Francisco’s first four contests. It starts Sept. 12 at Seattle, followed by a Monday Night Football matchup on Sept. 20 against Super Bowl champion New Orleans. Two consecutive road games follow: at Kansas City and at Atlanta.

The first half closes with the 49ers home for three out of four: back-to-back home dates with the Eagles (on Sunday Night Football Oct. 10) and Raiders in weeks 5-6, and a home game with Denver in week 8, following a trip to Carolina in week 7.

The bye week comes at the season’s midpoint. The second half of the season begins with two consecutive home games, against St. Louis and against Tampa Bay. That sets up a tough closing stretch: four of San Francisco’s final six are away from home.

It starts with a Monday Night Football matchup at Arizona on Nov. 29. San Francisco goes to Green Bay the next week, then plays host to Seattle Dec. 12, then travels to San Diego for a Thursday Night Football meeting on Dec. 16 in week 15.

The final two games are at St. Louis and a home date against Arizona.

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Ten victories won the NFC West last season. The San Francisco 49ers fell two games short of that mark.

But finishing at .500 in 2009 is a good building block for the upcoming campaign, and the 49ers hope a schedule featuring 10 games against non-playoff teams will launch San Francisco into the postseason.

The National Football League has released its list of home games and road games for every team. Dates and times will be finalized in the spring. Seven of the 49ers’ contests come against teams that won fewer than six games in 2009.

San Francisco takes on NFC West rival and defending division champion Arizona in home and road games. At home, the 49ers face Super Bowl champion New Orleans and NFC wild-card qualifier Philadelphia. The rest of the home schedule includes matchups with division rivals St. Louis and Seattle, and non-division games with Tampa Bay, Oakland and Denver.

Away from home, the games against playoff teams include matchups with the Cardinals, AFC West champion San Diego and NFC wild-card qualifier Green Bay. The rest of the road schedule includes trips to St. Louis, Seattle, Kansas City, Atlanta and Carolina.

Based on opponents’ win percentage, the 49ers’ schedule ranks 28th out of the 32-team NFL.

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