This off-season in mini-camp the two kickers were matching each other kick for kick, but this summer Cortez has pulled away. In both pre-season action and in training camp Cortez seems to be winning the competition. He’s connecting more kicks, and is handling the pressure better.

Cortez salary this season is less than the bonus that Jeff Chandler signed this off-season, so what if Cortez wins the roster spot? Will the 49ers be able to save face after shelling out over three hundred grand for a player who didn’t even make the roster? What about the fourth round pick that inherently was wasted?

The way I see it, even if Cortez is the 49ers kicker come opening day, the 49ers will not have wasted their pick or their money. By bringing in Chandler they were able to challenge Cortez to the point where he had to produce. The money and the pick may end up lost, but if Cortez comes through, than the team really hasn’t lost out.

The only way the 49ers can really get the bad end of this, is if they decide to keep Chandler even if he doesn’t outshine Cortez this summer in the hopes that they can save some of the ‘embarrassment’ that many will proclaim exists.

Still I believe that drafting Chandler was a good pick. The 49ers recognized they needed to improve their kicking, and in drafting Chandler they got what they saw as the best possible competition for Cortez. And regardless of who ends up kicking, the team will have improved the position - which is essentially what they were after.