SAN JOSE – When the 49ers and the 31 other teams finally head back to work, they'll be faced with a lengthy to-do list that began stacking up when the lockout began in March.

That's normally when teams start re-signing some of their free agents and bringing in others off the open market. The 49ers have 16 free agents, six of whom were starters last season, who have been in limbo since the lockout began March 11.

The 49ers also must take care of leftover business from April when, in a typical offseason, teams sign college players who weren't selected in the draft.

With training-camp rosters likely to jump from 80 to 90 players, the 49ers are expected to bring in as many as 20 undrafted players in the next week or so.

Then there is the matter of signing the team's 10 draft picks, a process that usually begins in May and – the 2009 Michael Crabtree saga not withstanding – is wrapped up before the start of training camp.

Under the league's proposed timeline, teams will be able to open their doors as soon as Saturday so that players can work out and begin classroom sessions with coaches.

For the 49ers, the reverse may happen: When the lockout ends, quarterback Alex Smith likely will sit down with coach Jim Harbaugh and give him a tutorial on what transpired over the offseason.

During the lockout, Smith acted as starting quarterback and head coach, organizing practices with his offensive teammates and installing the basics of Harbaugh's offense.

What Smith installed and how much his teammates retained will dictate how Harbaugh and his staff will proceed when training camp begins.

"I'm sure that will take place," Smith said this week. "I'm sure we'll talk about how things went and how I felt about things – what I installed."

But while Smith has been acting like the 49ers leader over the past 4 1/2 months, he's technically not a 49er. Instead, he's one of a number of the team's unrestricted free agents, though undoubtedly he will be among first to re-sign.

Others that the 49ers would like to have back include center David Baas, safety Dashon Goldson, defensive end Ray McDonald and inside linebacker Takeo Spikes.

Under the league's timeline, teams also could begin renegotiating contracts with players on their roster as soon as Saturday.

The 49ers intend to do so with starting cornerback Nate Clements, whose base salary jumps to $7.25 million with another $7 million or so in incentives. That's too high for the 49ers, who either will negotiate a more reasonable deal with Clements or release him.

The 49ers also must sign every member of their 10-man draft class, although that process may be easier than it's been in the past.

Under the proposed collective bargaining agreement, the contracts of all draft picks are limited to four years with teams given the option of extending the deals for first-round picks to five years. There are also rules that discourage rookies from engaging in lengthy holdouts like the 71-day impasse involving Crabtree two years ago.

The 49ers' 2011 first-round pick, Aldon Smith, already has moved to the area and has been a regular at the team workouts at San Jose State. A defensive end at Missouri, Smith said he's eager to make the switch to outside linebacker.

"I think it's going to be a big transition for everybody because it's a new coaching staff here and a whole new system," Smith said Thursday. "Everybody's kind of starting from scratch."

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