Vernon Davis says he's holding out, days after saying he wouldn't

San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis appears to be officially holding out, despite the fact that in a radio interview he said he wasn't going to. Davis filled in for Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column on Monday and got right down to business by announcing that he is holding out. Specifically, Davis segued into it by titling his first section "Why I'm Holding Out."

Last Thursday, Davis went on 95.7 The Game and told the hosts that he planned on being at the team's mandatory minicamp this week. "I plan on being there," Davis said.

The rest of Davis' interview mostly focused on his brand and the fact that he's a businessman and an entrepreneur, which interestingly lines up perfectly with the fact that Davis is Fantex's first publicly traded athlete. You can buy stock in him, in other words. For more on that, the Bay Area Sports Guy put together a solid column back when Davis' holdout was first reported in late May.

But the important aspect is this: Davis said he wouldn't hold out, and now he's being as up-front as one can be when it comes to this stuff. In the MMQB piece, Davis talked about his five-year contract signed in 2010. He noted that it was the biggest contract for a tight end in league history, but says that he's playing at a higher level now than he was back then.

"It's all about getting paid what you deserve," Davis said, "It's not that complicated. I want the 49ers to win the Super Bowl, and I want to be on the field this summer working toward that goal, but I have to worry about my future first."

Davis acknowledged problems with his contract shortly after the holdout was initially reported, but his first definitive statement on the matter was the aforementioned interview in which he said he would not be holding out. We have these conflicting statements in the media, which is concerning, but if you think for a second that the 49ers are unclear as to what Davis is after, you're fooling yourself.

Whether or not he'll get a new deal has been a constant topic for discussion since the initial reports. Davis is currently the third highest-paid tight end in the NFL when it comes to average salary per-year (behind Rob Gronkowski and Jason Witten) and his stats essentially line up with where he was when he received the new contract. The 49ers also have other players in line for new deals, like right guard Alex Boone, wide receiver Michael Crabtree and left guard Mike Iupati.

Davis also said that it took him "four years to figure it out," which is likely a big factor in him deciding to hold out. Nobody should fault Davis for wanting some security for the future, regardless of the 49ers' current salary cap situation.

"More than 300 of us enter this league every year, and there's no excuse for any of us to leave it poorer than we started," Davis said. It's still unclear why he saying he wouldn't holdout less than a week ago, because it's pretty clear from his statements that he's been thinking about these things for a long time.