National Football League

Report: 49ers near deal to send Balmer to Seattle

Published Aug. 16, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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The San Francisco 49ers finally figured out what to do with AWOL defensive lineman Kentwan Balmer -- ship him out.

A report in The Sacramento Bee says the team is trading him to Seattle, though paperwork has yet to be exchanged and nothing is official.

Today would have marked his fifth straight unexcused day absence from training camp, which allows the team the right to shut him down for the season.

The team said Balmer met Wednesday night with coach Mike Singletary.

Singletary allowed Balmer to miss Monday and Tuesday workouts as he dealt with a ''personal issue.'' But the 49ers had expected him back Wednesday.

Balmer, San Francisco's first-round draft pick in 2008 out of North Carolina, is entering the third year of the five-year, $8 million deal he signed as a rookie. He has yet to start a game and recorded no sacks in his first two NFL seasons.

Later Thursday, the 49ers signed rookie free agent defensive tackle Will Tukuafu to a two-year contract to help fill the void left by Balmer's absence. Tukuafu, out of Oregon, was originally signed by the Seattle Seahawks before they released him June 22.

Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky acknowledged the Niners were eager to bring someone in to play defensive end and provide some help, perhaps in time for Sunday's exhibition opener at Indianapolis.

''Kentwan is kind of a different situation. Coach Sing deals with that,'' Manusky said. ''I coach the players who are here on the practice field. That's my job. You see the job analysis and that's what I do: Coach the guys who are out here. I don't know what's going on with him, but from an adjustment standpoint, we're going to bring another lineman, a person who can play defensive end for us.''

Information from the AP was used in this report.