BOCA RATON, Fla. – Still trying to figure out the San Francisco 49ers’ free-agent philosophy two weeks into the new league year, especially after how much they made of the salary cap space they'd have at their disposal entering the offseason?

Then allow Niners general manager Trent Baalke to explain their relative slow start, one that has yielded them two outside free agents in left guard Zane Beadles and backup quarterback Thad Lewis.

“It’s no different from the draft,” Baalke said Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings. “There’s players you target, there’s players you look at, but it’s got to make sense for both sides. There were certain players that we had some interest in, but for various reasons – sometimes it’s financial, sometimes it’s fit within the scheme itself – but there weren’t a lot of players … available in this year’s free agency. And as we saw, the ones that were, commanded a lot of cap space.”

One player the 49ers were in on was cornerback Sean Smith, but he chose to go some 40 miles up I-880 from Santa Clara to the Oakland Raiders and their four-year, $40 million offer.

The Niners have yet to have any conversations with receiver Anquan Boldin, their leading pass-catcher the past three seasons. They have re-signed two of their own free agents, nose tackle Ian Williams and kicker Phil Dawson, last year’s team MVP, but Williams injured his ankle and his availability for the beginning of the season in serious doubt; his five-year, $27.5 million contract was restructured into a one-year deal worth up to $6 million with no guaranteed money.

In fact, the Niners have given out a just over $3.1 million in guaranteed money via signings, re-signings and extensions since the new league year began on March 9, per ESPN Stats & Information, which ranks 29th in the NFL. The New York Giants have given out the most guaranteed money, at $106.3 million.

So I asked Baalke how he would describe what the Niners have done thus far in free agency.

“Well, we haven’t done much,” Baalke deadpanned. “We’re a draft-and-develop team. That’s what we are.”

Baalke maintained his stance that in five years as general manager the Niners have signed one player in the first expensive wave of free agency – receiver Torrey Smith last season – and he garnered the largest contract ever doled out by Baalke, a five-year, $40 million deal with $22 million guaranteed.