Deion Could Sign With 49ers Today : Pro football: San Francisco cautious, but hopes to complete one-year, $1.3-million deal for All-Pro.

With the baseball season gone, Deion Sanders wasted no time closing in on a new job with the San Francisco 49ers.

A free-agent cornerback and Cincinnati Reds outfielder, Sanders shopped his services to several NFL teams while idled by the monthlong baseball players strike. On Wednesday, the owners called off the season.

With his baseball job gone, at least for this season, Sanders was ready to turn his attention to football, said his agent, Eugene Parker.

Sanders told an Atlanta television station he had decided against rejoining the Atlanta Falcons and intended to sign with the 49ers.

In their bid to sign Sanders, the 49ers freed $1.3 million under the salary cap by restructuring the contracts of linebackers Gary Plummer and Ken Norton and safety Tim McDonald.

Club president Carmen Policy said Sanders, a three-time Pro Bowler in five seasons with the Falcons, flew to the San Francisco Bay area on Wednesday. Policy said he hoped to complete a deal within the next 24 hours.

“There are some very sensitive negotiations going on,” Policy said. “We’re talking numbers. We’re talking incentives. We’re talking a variety of things. We’re even talking philosophy.”

Just two weeks ago, Policy said the 49ers couldn’t afford Sanders because of salary-cap constraints, Now he was optimistic the two sides could come to terms. However, he was wary of competing offers.

“We’re not in there alone,” Policy said. “If I was to stand here and tell you it was done, I would be really acting foolhardy. I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. His coming out here may be nothing more than priming the pump to get Atlanta to really come through with a final offer.”

Falcons president Taylor Smith said the team still assumed Sanders would give Atlanta a chance to match the best offer from another club.

“If the (money) is what it’s rumored to be . . . . then I know we can be competitive with that kind of offer,” Atlanta Coach June Jones said. “Deion knows we want him here, and he knows this is the best fit for what he wants to accomplish.”

Should Sanders sign with the 49ers, he would be the sixth defensive free agent added to the team. San Francisco (1-1) earlier added Norton, Plummer, Toi Cook, Rickey Jackson and Richard Dent.

San Francisco Coach George Seifert has called Sanders the best defensive back in the game today and players agreed his addition could make a great impact.

“It would only make us better and I’m all for anyone coming here who would make us better,” Cook said. “It’s all about winning and any player that’s going to help us win, bring him here.”

McDonald, who was among the players agreeing to renegotiated contracts, added: “Deion’s a great player and he brings a lot. He brings excellent man to man coverage skills. He brings a lot of charisma and a lot of excitement and I think he’s all business once he steps on the football field.”

Sanders had been seeking a long-term, $4 million-a-year deal, but apparently has conceded the NFL’s $34.6 million salary cap makes that impossible.

“As always, it’s Deion’s call,” Parker told the Atlanta Journal on Tuesday. “I think he knows what he wants to do. I think he knows where he wants to be and how to get there.”