"I don't want to put any pressure on our coach," Walsh said, referring to Steve Mariucci, "but, gosh, this is a real turnaround defensively."
Stubblefield, the 1997 Defensive Player of the Year, was the 49ers' first-round pick in 1993.
Walsh said no players were sacrificed to make room for Stubblefield.
In other transactions:
New England released cornerback Antonio Langham. . .Detroit signed free-agent tight end Pete Mitchell from the New York Giants to a one-year contract worth $490,000. . .Pittsburgh extended running back Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala's contract for the next three seasons. . .St. Louis signed offensive lineman Frank Garcia, who spent the past six years with Carolina. . .Chicago released veteran defensive tackle Jim Flanigan. . .Green Bay claimed cornerback Tony Dar-den off waivers from San Diego.
In other news:
RAIDERS: Closing arguments
The NFL conspired to crush the Raiders' efforts to build a stadium in the Los Angeles area, a team attorney said in his closing argument, an allegation one of the league's lawyers dismissed as false and foolish. The Raiders are suing the NFL for $1 billion.
Raiders attorney Joseph Alioto suggested league executives had a vendetta against the Raiders because the team had brought a successful antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, claiming the league tried to keep the team from moving to Los Angeles in the 1980s. *
