Right tackle Mike McGlinchey wants to stay with the 49ers. He listed all of the reasons the Bay Area now is home: The place where he met his fiancée, a team full of his friends who have a chance to win a Super Bowl.
“It’s hard to ever want to leave this place,” McGlinchey said last week, via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “I’ve seen people do it and be heartbroken about it later on.”
But when McGlinchey enters free agency in March, he also knows re-signing with the 49ers is no sure thing. McGlinchey, 28, acknowledged what everyone knows: It’s always all about the money.
“Well, it certainly will have a lot to do with it,” McGlinchey said. “I’m not an idiot. I understand what my value is. And I think they do, too. And I hope the rest of the league will when the time comes.”
McGlinchey, who played last season under the $10.88 million fifth-year option, knows someone else likely pays him more than the 49ers can afford. They will try to sign edge rusher Nick Bosa to a big extension this offseason, while already having five players who rank among the league’s top three highest paid at their positions.
McGlinchey isn’t giving a hometown discount as much as he wants to remain with the team.
“You have to keep an open mind about this stuff,” McGlinchey said. “But you also have to be real about it, too. Because there’s a lot of damn good football players in our locker room. And a lot of them that need to be paid. We certainly have one that’s going to break the entire bank. So you’ve got to see how the chips fall.”