The San Francisco 49ers and running back Frank Gore have "engaged in contract discussions," according to Gore's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, via Ed Werder of ESPN. Coming on the heels of Gore posting a message on his Instagram about how he wasn't sure whether or not the 49ers wanted him -- and the subsequent deleting of said message -- this report says that there is "nothing negative between the 49ers, general manager Trent Baalke and Frank Gore."

That comes from Rosenhaus, who is apparently responding to Gore' Instagram post, given the close proximity of this report. Whatever the case, Rosenhaus says the 49ers have "made it clear" they want Gore back, but that he doesn't know what the compensation level is at this point.

If this is true, I'm wondering why Gore posted this ... though of course, it's possible that Rosenhaus hasn't told Gore about it. As I understand, it's not all that uncommon this early on in the offseason, but you'd think Gore would go to him for reassurance before posting something like that. Whatever the case, Rosenhaus says that the 49ers "need to show Frank Gore some love."

I don't know if that means the 49ers aren't offering him enough or if this is just Gore's side making their intentions clear. Whatever the case, we could know more very soon, as Werder's report says that the conversations between the 49ers and Rosenhaus "are scheduled to continue at the NFL Scouting Combine early this week, in Indianapolis."

The Scouting Combine gets underway today, as prospects are converging on Indianapolis en masse. The thought that the 49ers and Rosenhaus will talk extensively at the combine isn't surprising, as the event sort of serves as a "soft launch" for free agency, as I wrote last week. There actually appears to be quite a bit of tampering but hey, everyone is in on it, right?

Whatever the case, hopefully we'll know more about Gore soon.