Baalke offers assurances over veteran stars, but his words may ring hollow

The NFL Scouting Combine starts in Indianapolis this week as teams and prospects step up their preparations for the upcoming draft.

General manager Trent Baalke faced questions from the media on Wednesday and, while his focus this week will be on prospective new 49ers, he was primarily quizzed on the future of current Niners whose futures with the team are very much in doubt.

Baalke revealed he had already spoken to Frank Gore and reiterated that San Francisco is keen to see their all-time leading rusher return for the 2015 campaign.

"Frank's, everyone asks that question all the time. I think I've been asked that question for five straight years now. Frank's just the Energizer battery, he just keeps on ticking. The last two games of the season, I think you saw what Frank still has left in the tank. A very good football player. One of the most passionate, if not the most passionate football player I've ever been around. So, I still think he's got it in him. I know that he still believes it. I talked to him the other day on the phone and we're going to do what we can to get him back as a 49er."

Furthermore Baalke, per Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area, insisted tight end Vernon Davis will be back for next season despite his dreadful performance in 2014 and added that the Niners are set to meet with Michael Crabtree's agent over a prospective new deal.

Veteran defensive lineman Justin Smith is another whose status is up in the air and it remains to be seen whether he will return for a 15th NFL season or choose to hang up the cleats following an impressive career.

Baalke stated that he is to meet with Smith after the combine, but his assurances over the likes of Gore and Smith are likely to ring hollow with much of the 49er fanbase following an offseason in which the name of the franchise has been dragged through the mud thanks to the departure of Jim Harbaugh as head coach and appointment of Jim Tomsula as his replacement.

Questions about Harbaugh's recent claims that his parting with the Niners was not mutual were expertly dodged by Baalke, however, for fans still annoyed by the saga of the exit of San Francisco's head coach, talk of the 49ers' commitment to their ageing stars may well fall on deaf ears.