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General manager Terry Donahue expressed confidence Monday that the 49ers can re-sign linebacker Julian Peterson to a long-term contract before he hits the free agent market in March.


"Julian is a very high priority for us," Donahue said. "At the end of the day, we'll have a point that we'll sign Julian Peterson. He'll be happy. We'll be happy. And he'll be on the team. Can I guarantee that? No, but I'm anticipating he will be."

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Is Donahue as confident about retaining wide receiver Terrell Owens?


Pausing 10 seconds after that question, Donahue replied: "I don't think I can answer that because I don't know all the circumstances."


Donahue did say he wouldn't hesitate to re-sign the temperamental star receiver, so perhaps Owens didn't walk off the 49ers sideline for good with nearly three minutes left in Saturday's season-ending loss to the Seattle Seahawks.


"T.O. wants to be back on the team, from what I've heard and listened to, and we want him back on the team," Donahue said. " ... Can we get there? Golly, I can't answer that. I don't know."


Owens' agent, David Joseph, isn't willing to answer that, either, until he sees what the 49ers are willing to offer Owens, who will void the final three years of his contract sometime in the next two months, Joseph said.


"There's still interest in Terrell's part in returning to the team," Joseph said. "However, he's got to sit down, like the 49ers have to sit down, and figure out what's best for him. He takes a lot of pride in being with the San Francisco 49ers. That's why we went to them before the season to get something worked out."


The 49ers rebuffed Joseph's overtures for a contract extension before training camp, and Donahue supported that decision Monday.


"We decided to let the season play itself out to be able to evaluate all of our players collectively. In his particular case, he only practiced one day a week," Donahue said. "I had more information available to me today than I had then, and that will be useful."


Owens earned his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl invite even though he dropped at least a dozen passes and finished with 80 receptions (nine touchdowns) before breaking his left collarbone in the Dec. 21 upset victory at Philadelphia.


Owens has declined interview requests by Bay Area sportswriters the past three months.


"We've tried to keep an open mind about (returning)," Joseph said. "The worst thing people can do is read into some of his actions."


That includes, Joseph said, Owens talking to his mother on his cell phone on the 49ers sideline in Philadelphia or making an early exit Saturday because his collarbone was throbbing in the cold weather.


Joseph confirmed Owens is in the process of selling his home in Fremont but said it had nothing to do with Owens' uncertain future.


Donahue didn't rule out using the "franchise tag" on Owens, whether that means keeping him for next season or trading him for a high draft pick.


Donahue said the 49ers have had a "very good initial conversation" with Peterson's agent, Kevin Poston, whose firm also represents Washington Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington, the recipient Friday of a reported $68 million contract that included $20 million in bonuses. Arrington's deal could greatly affect Peterson's, though Donahue argued they play different positions, with Peterson splitting time at left end.


Another major financial issue this offseason is quarterback Jeff Garcia's contract, which calls for him to make the average base salary of the five highest-paid quarterbacks, a projected $9.5 million. If the 49ers cut Garcia before March 2, he would cost some $10 million against the salary cap.


"When we signed Jeff to that contract three years, we knew full well and (Garcia and his agent, Steve Baker) knew full well, that this was going to be renegotiated," Donahue said. "That was discussed openly and candidly. There was no way we were going to be able to swallow $10 million. I think there's a number we can live with, and one Jeff can live with, and I'm hopeful we can agree on that.


"We'd like Jeff back. Can we get him back? A lot of that ball is in Jeff's court and his agent's court."


Baker said he expects the 49ers to ask Garcia to take a pay cut. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Baker said.


Although the 49ers have relied on such reworking of contracts to comply with the league's salary cap in the past, Donahue said they won't be doing that nearly as much this year. It's part of a strategy to eliminate "dead money" -- cap room taken by players no longer with the team.


"We've got to take our medicine in a sense we've got to get rid of our dead money," Donahue said. "We've been in recovery the last five years, and we've got a couple more years of recovery before we get healthy."


Donahue said the club would loosen its belt to tender running back Kevan Barlow, a restricted free agent, a one-year, $1.9 million contract that would force other teams to surrender first- and third-round draft picks as compensation if they signed Barlow.

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