Dashon Goldson 49ersMerry Christmas, NFL fans. Today is the day where we cease to be productive in the work place and responsive to loved ones. I’ve been awake for about 20 minutes and I’ve seen about seven tidbits of news regarding player movement in the NFL.

One of them is the rumors regarding Ed Reed landing with the 49ers. They already traded their sixth-round pick for Anquan Boldin (who didn’t take it the way fans in San Francisco would have hoped), and with the almost certain exit of Dashon Goldson they’ll need a replacement at safety.

Reed became the likely candidate yesterday when NFL Network’s Albert Breer tweeted about the long time-Raven hiring an agent. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said a league source predicted Reed would end up with the 49ers, and this morning Florio upped the ante on the speculation by mentioning Reed’s agent, David Dunn, also represents Trent Baalke and Jim Harbaugh.

Does this mean ‘Goodbye Goldson?’

It isn’t this news as much as it is all the circumstances surrounding Goldson’s free agency. According to Adam Schefter, four teams – San Francisco, Philadelphia, Detroit and Tampa Bay — are in play for Goldson, but “Detroit and Tampa Bay are considered favorites.” It’s hard to imagine Goldson coming back, especially if teams turn this into a bidding war. The 49ers seem to be moving on and cap space, as it stands, provides little wiggle room to break the bank for the Hawk.

How does Reed stack up?

A few years ago this would have been a no-brainer, but Reed wasn’t himself in 2012.

2012 Statistics (Scores from Pro Football Focus)

2012 Statistics (Scores from Pro Football Focus)

Obviously, Goldson appears to have the edge here. PFF graded him out much better in every category, and while the numbers seem comparable he still looks to be the better of the two safeties, especially considering he had fewer missed tackles, was equal in turnovers and had more stops.

What Reed would bring to the table is a more sensible game and better hands on interceptions. A move like this would almost assure the 49ers take a safety in the 2013 draft, to which Reed could play mentor (I can only think of one safety I’d rather learn from).

What do you think? This isn’t a move to solidify the future, but it should secure the position of free safety for at least one more season.