49ers quarterback Alex Smith will be a free agent this offseason but it is highly unlikely he will be made available to any of the 31 other teams in the NFL.

According to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com, the 49ers’ braintrust is “unanimous” in their desire to bring Smith back as their starting quarterback.

“We’re all in lockstep as an organization that Alex Smith is our guy,” said head coach Jim Harbaugh. “It’s well-documented. You saw the way he played this year. (He is a) tremendous leader on our football team.”

Harbaugh will open the job up to competition between Smith and Colin Kaepernick after Smith is re-signed but Smith is firmly expected to win that battle. It is extremely unlikely that the 49ers will enter the Peyton Manning sweepstakes.

McDonald was pulled over at around 2am for a traffic violation and was taken into custody over an outstanding warrant tied to a 2010 arrest for suspicion of driving under the influence.

No other charges were filed and McDonald was released at 7am.

The 27-year-old signed a five-year, $20 million contract extension last July. In a starting role for the first time in his NFL career, McDonald had a career-high 39 tackles and 5.5 quarterback sacks.

Smith will be the team’s assistant special teams coach, a position he held with the Browns in 2010. 49ers assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Brad Seely was the Browns special teams coordinator in 2010.

Smith has been a coaching assistant with the Seattle Seahawks, where his father, Carl Smith, is the team’s quarterbacks coach.

Jim Harbaugh has been named the 2011 Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year.

In his first season, Harbaugh guided the 49ers to a 13-3 record, winning the NFC West and earning the No. 2 seed in the NFC Playoffs. In the franchise’s first playoff game since 2002, the 49ers defeated the New Orleans Saints in the Divisional Playoffs and hosted the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game.

The 49ers lost to the Giants, 20-17 in overtime.

Harbaugh received 45 of the 50 votes, with Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy (3) and Denver Broncos head coach John Fox (2) gaining the remaining votes.

National Football League owners approved $200 million in a G-4 loan that will be directed to fund construction costs for the new Santa Clara Stadium, the new home of the San Francisco 49ers.

The approval is the last piece of financing needed for construction to begin on the stadium, and the 49ers are the first franchise to receive support from the new stadium fund that was crafted in the collective bargaining agreement with NFL players last year.

49ers rookie outside linebacker Aldon Smith is in trouble with the law.

Smith was arrested in Miami Beach on Friday night and charged with driving under the influence, according to the CBS affiliate in South Florida.

Drafted seventh overall out of Missouri, Smith led all rookies with 14 sacks.

Assigned a $1,000 bond Saturday morning after being booked into jail, Smith is likely to make a first appearance in bond court on Sunday. Smith had a stellar first season in the NFL.

He doesn’t have a history of off-field problems.

“Bobby Engram is an outstanding addition to our staff,” Chryst said in a statement on the Pitt website. “I’m really excited that our players will have the opportunity to learn and benefit from Bobby’s tremendous experience and knowledge of the game. He will be a great teacher on the field and make an even greater impact on our players off the field.”

Engram, 39, caught 650 passes for 7,751 yards and 35 touchdowns in a 14-year career with the Bears (1996-2000), Seahawks (2001-08) and Chiefs (2009).

Even though the 49ers season is over, let us take a look back at some of the bright spots of the season that was. Alex Smith finally found a system in which to be successful with in the NFL, Vernon Davis became Smith’s safety net, and the defense became one of the best in the league. Though the season ended less than favorably for the 49ers, what they were able to accomplish this season when everyone counted them out, is incredible.

Going into the season the biggest question facing the team was can we win with Alex Smith at QB? Alex then went on to have the best season of his career by far and finally proved his worth to the team. Remember when Smith was the first overall pick in 2005 and he became a huge disappointment?

Well he began to resurrect that career this year, and it helps that going into next season he won’t be having to meet with a new offensive coordinator, learn a new offense, learn new schemes, calls etc. Alex finally has a chance to make people really believe in him, especially since he is rumored to be resigning with the team. Smith’s stats this season were the best of his career throwing for 3,144 yards, 17 touchdowns and a career low 5 interceptions. He also threw the game winning touchdown against the Saints in the playoffs. So for once in his career Alex Smith is on his way to stability and success in the NFL.

Vernon Davis came into this season facing the same uncertainty that faced Alex Smith. He had been labeled as a trouble maker, a player that couldn’t win, and was just a distraction. Well he proved all that propaganda wrong with a breakout season where he became the emotional spirit of the offense. Vernon also became one of the most potent threats the offense had as he is a very hard target to cover.

Many people will remember Vernon this season as the man that caught the pass that got the team to the NFC Championship, but let’s not forget that he caught 4 touchdown passes in the postseason. Vernon’s season stat totals were 67 catches for 792 yards and 6 touchdowns. Looking forward to next season Vernon Davis looks to continue this season’s success, and supplant his name as one the top tight ends in the league.

The defense really made this team what it was this season. The defense was fierce, played with lots of energy and heart, and discipline. Rookie Aldon Smith led the team with 14 sacks, which was just one sack away from the NFL rookie record. The defense didn’t give up a rushing touchdown until the second game against the Seattle Seahawks in week 16, which is an NFL record.

While the secondary had its injury problems, it held together enough to be respectable, and while it was suspect at times it held its own with the best of teams. The defense had 42 sacks on the season; add that to being +30 in takeaways and you get one of the best defensive groups in the league. Going forward this squad has so much room to get better and better and that should be a scary thought for the rest of the league.

Going into the 2012 season look for the 49ers to add another receiver, and another cornerback to add depth to the defense, and even though the team went 13-3 there is still room to get better with those additions. Kendall Hunter will continue to help take a lot of the load off of Frank Gore to keep him healthy in the long run. Things are really looking good for the San Francisco 49ers, with a renewed sense of spirit and heart and determination, this team is in for a great future, and that future is most definitely under way.

“The thing is, we knew he had four concussions, so that was our biggest thing, was to take him outta the game,” said Jacquian Williams, who forced the second fumble, in overtime, to set up New York’s game-winning field goal.

“He’s had a lot of concussions,” said Devin Thomas, who recovered both fumbles. “We were just like, ‘We gotta put a hit on that guy.’” Later in the same interview, he told the Newark Star-Ledger that teammate and backup safety Tyler Sash “did a great job hitting him early and he looked kind of dazed when he got up. I feel like that made a difference and he coughed it up.”

By any means necessary.

It is unlikely that 49ers quarterback Alex Smith will test the market when he becomes a free agent March 13, according to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle.

On Monday, Smith did nothing to dispel the belief that he’ll back for an eighth season in San Francisco, and his second with coach Jim Harbaugh.

“At this point I love it here,” Smith said. “Love what’s going on. Love this team and coaching staff, everything about it. So no question I’d love to stay here.”

Smith indicated he’d prefer to not have contract negotiations drag on too long.

“I think sooner rather than later, no question,” he said.