At some point this offseason, Jimmy Garoppolo will make his departure from the San Francisco. And at that point, the 49ers will need to think about upgrading, again, at backup quarterback.
General manager John Lynch made that a point when the 49ers traded up in the draft to acquire Trey Lance. The injuries at the quarterback position were untenable, and cost the team at least two full seasons in 2018 and 2020.
It stands to reason the 49ers still have that philosophy, and will be jettisoning Garoppolo’s nearly $27 million salary, freeing up roughly $24 million in cap space.
Lance isn’t earning pennies, at roughly $7.75 million next season, and much of that, as Lynch intimated in his post-season presser is likely “budgeted” for extension for Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa. Still, the 49ers are chopping off a couple dozen million off their books, and you’d imagine some of that could and should be used at acquiring serviceable quarterback depth.
This is actually a fairly decent market for backup quarterbacks, with the likes of Andy Dalton, Tyrod Taylor, Mitch Trubisky, Teddy Bridgewater, Marcus Mariota and others available.
The question, as always, is about fit and price, which is why some of these options will be less viable than others.
Assessing backup quarterbacks is always difficult, and it’s even tougher now with the 49ers transitioning to Lance. Do they want to go the Ravens route of finding backups who have similar skillsets to Lamar Jackson, or do they just want stable, veteran pocket passers?
It’s tough to get inside the mind of Kyle Shanahan, but former Shanahan quarterback John Beck outlined some of what Shanahan looks for in quarterbacks last year on KNBR.
Kyle wants somebody that can understand his offense, that can process information quickly, that can see the field through a lens that makes sense for him to be able to coach and for you to have to see it how he sees it.
He’s also really big on feet. He wants to be able to time feet to scheme, and really vice-versa. So he’s really particular about the feet of his quarterback, the eyes of his quarterbacks, positioning, and he looks for traits and abilities.
Physical abilities would be to get the ball out quickly, being able to drive it to a lot of places on the field quickly and effortlessly. He loves to be aggressive in play pass (play-action) in certain areas of the field. So he wants somebody, as they come off the play fake if those safeties start to cut the underneath routes, they have to ability — or I should say, also, if they get flat-footed — he wants somebody that can drive a ball downfield.
And then within space. In this game, space is always taken away because of the pressure on the defense. So he wants somebody that doesn’t have to use a bunch of space in the pocket to be able to really drive the ball and do it accurately. So that’s where there’s certain elements of a guy that may stick out to him, and he looks and says a lot of that fits with what I want to do.
A lot of people just want to say, ‘oh, he’s looking for an athletic quarterback. I think, oh, anybody with athleticism fits.’ Kyle doesn’t need a Lamar Jackson athlete. He just needs somebody athletic enough to run the keeper game, to be able to move off the spot. And then in the play-pass game, to be able to move enough selling the actions, and if there is any pressure, quickly move and still be able to drive every single throw to all levels of the field.”
The first name that pops up, and it’s not a sexy one, is Nate Sudfeld. San Francisco kept him around on the practice squad all year, but guaranteed him a decent chunk of change at the start of the season, plus a de facto bonus by activating him from the practice squad for the NFC Championship.
Quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello is evidently a fan of his after spending the 2020 season with him in Philadelphia. Sudfeld is likely to be back this season, at least with a chance to compete for the backup job.
Some of the remaining names are more intriguing.
Andy Dalton was reportedly a strong target from the 49ers until the Chicago Bears signed him on a $10 million deal. After the shaky season he had, it seems unlikely he’d fetch that sort of price tag again.
Aside from being a reliable veteran presence, Dalton also spent a year with Zac Taylor, a Sean McVay disciple, in his last year in Cincinnati. Taylor’s scheme is founded on many of the same principles as Shanahan’s, giving Dalton a similar foundation for what Shanahan wants to do.
He is, however, mobility challenged, which might be an issue if Shanahan wants a quarterback somewhat similar to Trey Lance. He’s also still likely to be one of the more expensive free agent quarterback options, so there’s a question of what sort of investment would be worthwhile.
Two other names that are very much worth monitoring are Tyrod Taylor and Josh Johnson.
Taylor has to be the most promising option on this list. He’s had some freak circumstances, including a team doctor puncturing his lung, rid him of starting opportunities, but make no mistake, he is a very solid quarterback, and has been for some time.
He was Anthony Lynn’s preferred choice to start the year the Chargers drafted Justin Herbert, before that freak incident. Herbert, the freak that he is, ran away with the job after that.
Taylor signed a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Texans last season to mixed results, throwing five touchdowns and five interceptions over six games. He is a mobile threat, who has been in the league in extremely difficult, variable situations for more than a decade now. You’d imagine that’s a pretty enticing prospect for the 49ers pursue.
Johnson, on the other hand, hasn’t reached the same highs as Taylor, a one-time Pro Bowler in Buffalo, who parlayed that into a would-be mega extension (cut down by injuries and circumstance). But Johnson, like Taylor, has stuck around for more than a decade, in a multitude of situations.
He was with the 49ers in 2020 and would have started a game if not for testing positive for COVID-19. Kyle Shanahan lamented that he didn’t get that chance, and spoke fondly of him. He’s excelled in brief opportunities over the last season with both the Jets and the Ravens, and probably hasn’t gotten the chances he’s deserved.
In Week 9, Johnson had 317 yards, three touchdowns and an interception with the Jets against the Indianapolis Colts. He suffered an injury the following week early on and was later cut, before playing one game for the Ravens, when he was 28-of-40 for 304 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He rushed a handful of times for both teams.
Shanahan raved about Johnson after that Jets performance this season, when the Jets trailed 42-10 and Johnson brought it back to 45-30.
“Josh is a competitor, I was real happy for him,” Shanahan said. “Just that he got in and got the opportunity that he gave them a chance to come back and win, and just watching him on how crushed he was on that turnover at the end. Just shows you the type of competitor he is.”
Don’t be stunned if Johnson gets another chance in Santa Clara.
The other intriguing options are Jacoby Brisset, Mitch Trubisky, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Teddy Bridgewater, Colt McCoy and Marcus Mariota.
Trubisky is probably the most enticing option on that list, but could well be headed to New York with Brian Daboll, after spending a cheap year backing up Josh Allen in Buffalo. Marcus Mariota is probably the most mobile of that group, but may not be the most reliable backup presence. Fitzpatrick seems to always find himself getting a one-year, $10 million deal, and it’s unclear what the market looks like for Brisset and Bridgewater.
McCoy could be a nice pickup, too, after he absolutely diced up the 49ers and Seahawks this past season, but you’d imagine he’s going to be a priority re-signing for the Cardinals.
We don’t know what the market looks like for the dozen viable backup quarterback options the 49ers could pursue, but comfortability in the scheme and/or with coaches is generally a solid indicator, which is why the names at the top of this list are where they are.