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Free agency begins! The 49ers have agreed to terms with free agent LB Dontarrious Thomas, RB DeShaun Foster, QB J.T. O'Sullivan and return man Allen Rossum.

They have also contacted pro bowl guard Alan Faneca will have DE/OLB Justin Smith in for a visit today. Faneca is mulling over his primary options of the 49ers, Jets and Rams and won't make any visits until Sunday. Smith is also being pursued by the Vikings. Word is that Isaac Bruce may be on the way here and the team is out of the running for Calvin Pace, Lance Briggs and Bernard Berrian. They are also eyeing Giants free safety Gibril Wilson.

Auburn product Thomas was a 2nd round pick and has played sparingly over the past four seasons with the Vikings and signed a two-year deal. He's only had 10 starts and his best season was as a rookie with 59 tackles. He'll likely be competing with Brandon Moore for the starting TED inside linebacker spot next to Patrick Willis.

Foster was a huge impact player for the Panthers in their Super Bowl run and has started the past two seasons, but was cut in a cap saving move. The former UCLA star will team up with Frank Gore for a very impressive one-two punch on a very affordable two-year, $1.8 million contract.

O'Sullivan is a Martz favorite and a local kid from UC Davis. He's been all over the league as well as NFL Europa, and will likely compete for the third-string job, possibly with a rookie from the draft. His contract is one-year, $645,000.

Rossum agreed to terms a few days ago and is signed to one-year, $870,000.

Internal moves
The 49ers also gave Alex Smith a vote of confidence by exercising his multi-million dollar buyback clause. He's been awful so far in his three years here and looks like he's well on his way to being a #1 bust. Hopefully he can finally show something and stop wasting cap space. The team also inked special teams star Michael Robinson to a three year extension and are still in contact with Larry Allen about a potential return. Scot McCloughan said, "If he wants to stick to the price we think he's worth, we'd love to have him back." Probably will pend on Faneca's decision though.

Ex-Niners
Justin Smiley and Kwame Harris are outta here. Smiley agreed to a five-year, $25 million deal with the Dolphins, including $9 million guaranteed. Smiley played extremely poor this past season, eventually got injured, replaced and outplayed by David Baas. Harris, butt of all 49ers fans' jokes, is on his way to the Raiders after reaching an agreement on a rumored five-year, $25 million deal with $10 million upfront.

Marques Douglas is visiting Tampa Bay today. He'd likely be one-gapping in the three-technique at undertackle for the Tampa-2 scheme ala Warren Sapp.

Stay tuned for more FA excitement!