Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk believes that the Chicago Bears may be the landing spot for Amini Silatolu. He is scheduled to visit with them on Wednesday. Silatolu visited with the San Francisco 49ers back in April and has also visited with the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Arizona Cardinals.
Teams may have been hesitant to sign Silatolu after his ACL tear last November, his second since being drafted by the Carolina Panthers. It is unlikely that the 49ers were too interested following his pre-draft visit because no mentioning of him being linked to San Francisco have emerged since then. However, he was not expected to ready to practice until training camp. The 49ers kick off training camp in just 10 days with the team reporting on July 30 and their first practice kicking off the next day.
"The 49ers took a long look at Silatolu before the 2012 draft, and he met with then-offensive line coach Mike Solari that spring," reported Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee back in April. "The 49ers ended up selecting receiver A.J. Jenkins with the 30th overall pick that year; the Panthers took Silatolu with the 40th overall pick."
Silatolu started 28 of his 34 games over four years with the Panthers. He was drafted out of Division II Midwestern State in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He grew up in Redwood City, California and attended Merrill F. West High School in Tracy.
At guard, the 49ers have free agent acquisition Zane Beadles slated to start on the left. He was signed to a three-year deal back in March. The team will have a little competition on the right side, but likely hopes that rookie and first-round selection Joshua Garnett wins that job.
