I guess I see it this way-

If you were another team's GM looking at our stable of backs, who would you want/not want, and why?

Personally, I would want either PT or Ivory. Sproles is too old and is no longer workhorse material, but a great checkdown option nonetheless. Ingram just doesn't have a supporting body of work that makes him desirable, (unless you're counting college, which really falls into the 'what have you done for me lately' category, IMO) and worth picking up his contract.

PT is good, but too expensive for his age/recent production to warrant any poaching worries. And he'll probably restructure after this year anyway, so his cap hit probably won't be as bad as it looks right now

So if anybody is worried about losing a back, worry about losing Ivory because he's cheap, runs hard, and is a UFA next year with a good supporting body of work over more than one season (minus a few untimely fumbles, which he seems to have corrected this season, and injuries, which also have not been a problem so far. He looks a little better in the blocking game as well, but I only saw him a lay a couple of decent blocks in the 9ers game).

Talk about return on investment, he makes a strong case for better value in a trade IMO, much more so than any of our other backs

But again, I just don't see us getting rid of these guys. SP was setting something up, and I wanna see what it was

RFAs -- "Restricted Free Agents" -- are players who have accrued three years' experience in the NFL. They are eligible for a new contract, but teams can restrict their access by requiring draft-pick compensation for them to move on and receiving the right to match any deal a player receives. Rare is the case when a third-year player is valuable enough to merit a lucrative contract and a draft pick, and a result, RFAs usually don't change teams.

So the only news when it comes to RFAs is typically whether they were issued a tender or not. The level of the tender is mostly an issue of the salary cap.

In 2012, according to NFL.com, there are three levels of RFA tenders. A player who requires a first-round compensation will get a tender (and cap number) worth $2.742 million, according to NFL.com.

Second-round tenders are worth $1.927 million in cap and cash, and...

tenders that include right to match only are worth $1.26 million.

The NFL typically announces tender levels on the day free agency begins, and we'll pass along what we find out before then.