Why Didn't 49ers Land Adalius Thomas? Geography

Mike Nolan is busily trying to turn his San Francisco 49ers into a West Coast version of the Baltimore Ravens, where he previously served as defensive coordinator. But the biggest prize, Adalius Thomas, signed a contract with the Patriots instead. Why did Thomas go to New England even though San Francisco had plenty of money to spend? Geography, Peter King reports:

Everything about the 49ers interested Thomas, except the locale. "If it was all about money,'' San Francisco coach Mike Nolan told me Saturday, "I don't think we would have been outbid. But in the process of interviewing him Friday and him talking to me, I could see that some of the things I wanted to see happen weren't going to happen. I think geography had something to do with it.''...
Thomas couldn't lie to Nolan, his former Baltimore defensive coordinator. He didn't want to move West, nor did he want to leave his family 3,000 miles away for four months. Thomas, from rural Mississippi, has grown to love the energy of the East, as has his family, and Foxboro was infinitely more preferable than Santa Clara.

That seems reasonable, and I think it's a lot more common than we realize for players to consider elements other than salary when deciding whether to sign a contract. I don't know if the 49ers were willing to offer Thomas as much money as the Patriots were anyway, but even if they had been, that doesn't mean they could give Thomas everything he wanted.