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Earlier Thursday, we passed along word that Donte Whitner had agreed to terms with the Bengals. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported it; ESPN reported it; and Whitner even confirmed it on Twitter.

Something happened in the meantime to change Whitner’s mind.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Whitner will now go the 49ers on a three-year, $11 million contract with $4.5 million guaranteed. Clearly, that must have been a better offer than what Whitner was getting from Cincinnati.

This helps to explain why the 49ers were so desperate to get rid of Taylor Mays, although we suspect Mays was going to get the boot regardless.

Both the 49ers and Bengals had weak-looking safety groups heading into the day, which makes the loss sting even more for Cincinnati.