Tag: 49ers free agency

Why 49ers adding QB Josh Dobbs makes sense

Here’s why the #49ers signed another veteran quarterback:

The 49ers are set to sign veteran signal caller Josh Dobbs to a one-year contract. Dobbs’ agent announced the agreement on Twitter Monday afternoon.

Dobbs is the second quarterback the 49ers have signed this offseason. He’ll join Brandon Allen and Brock Purdy in San Francisco’s QB room.

It looked like the 49ers might be content with Allen as their QB2 and a draft pick sitting as the emergency third signal caller. Instead they brought in Dobbs to presumably compete for the backup QB job, leaving Allen to potentially work in as the emergency third QB on game days. That opens the door for a rookie to work out with the practice squad assuming he doesn’t pull a Purdy and beat out one of the veterans for a roster spot out of camp.

Dobbs is an intriguing addition though with plenty of upside. His Cinderella run with the Vikings fell flat after just a couple of weeks, but Dobbs showed during his 12 starts last year with the Cardinals and Vikings that he’s a capable starting QB in the NFL.

There are warts to his game, to be sure. Sometimes he has too much faith in his arm and his accuracy can be erratic, but he’s a mobile QB with enough upside that he’s a viable backup for a team like the 49ers. And backup QB is an extremely important position in San Francisco.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Dobbs will earn $2.25 million fully guaranteed with up to $750,000 in playing time incentives.

Purdy made it easy to forget the 49ers’ recent history with injuries under center. His healthy 2023 campaign though will unlikely erase the scars left by all the previous seasons the 49ers saw derailed because of an injury to the starting QB. They may have confidence that Allen can go win a few games if he’s pushed into a starting role, but he’s hardly done enough as a pro to warrant that level of confidence out of camp.

Now instead of competing with a rookie, he’ll be competing with a bonafide NFL QB who’ll either be better or force Allen to earn the all-important QB2 job.

Adding another quarterback didn’t appear to be super high on the 49ers’ list of offseason needs, but they were able to find a third at an affordable price that should ultimately improve their QB room regardless of whether he winds up as QB2 or QB3.

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49ers OT Trent Williams pegged as ‘perfect’ free-agent fit for Chargers

Should the Los Angeles Chargers go all in for offensive tackle Trent Williams this offseason?

At general manager Tom Telesco’s end-of-season press conference, he said that there’s a lot of improvement that needs to be made with the offensive line.

If Telesco sticks to his guns by bringing in a veteran to help with the reconstruction of the line, one possibility that ESPN’s Seth Galina likes is 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams.

Here is what Galina said about the potential pairing:

The Chargers continue to forget that offensive linemen play football, and it’s a mistake that has had a severe effect on their quarterback play over the last decade-plus. It’s finally time to end that with the signing of Trent Williams, who just so happened to be the highest-graded tackle in the league last season.

Williams sat out of the 2019 season because of ongoing disputes with the Washington Football Team, and many wondered if that would cause his play to slip a bit. It didn’t. His 91.9 grade in 2020 proves that he would instantly make the Chargers’ makeshift offensive line a real-life professional unit.

Williams was one the best offensive players for the 49ers in an injury-ravaged season. The 32-year old, who sat out all of 2019 due to a dispute with The Football Team, regained his All-Pro form with San Francisco.

Williams, the eight-time Pro Bowl selection, earned a 91.9-grade this past season, the highest of any tackle in the NFL among 93 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.

The Chargers currently have the ninth-most cap space available. Spotrac projects Williams could sign a three-year, $54,780,141 deal that carries an average annual salary of $18.2 million.

Even though he will be 33 years old during the upcoming season, he’s still proven to play the position at a high level, and he would be the answer Los Angeles has been needing at left tackle for the next few seasons.

49ers officially sign TE Jordan Reed

The 49ers made the Jordan Reed signing official on Sunday.

The 49ers on Sunday made the signing of tight end Jordan Reed official. An announcement came about a week after general manager John Lynch said in his pre-season press conference that the team was going to acquire the free-agent tight end. The signing gives San Francisco 79 players on their training camp roster.

Talent and fit aren’t really pressing questions with this acquisition. The 49ers need a better pass-catching option behind George Kittle, and Reed is an elite athlete with explosive play-making ability as a receiver. He’s not a great blocker, but he can effectively line up as a big-bodied receiver and generate mismatches through his versatility. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has experience with Reed from their time together in Washington. Reed was a third-round pick in the 2013 draft, which was Shanahan’s final year as Washington’s offensive coordinator.

In their lone season together Reed posted 499 yards and three touchdowns on 45 receptions in nine games. That’s a 16-game pace of 80 receptions, 887 yards and five touchdowns.

What sticks out in the lone season Shanahan and Reed were together is his nine games. Injuries, and specifically concussions, have been a problem for the tight end. He’s played 65 games since getting drafted seven years ago. He’s yet to play 16 games and he’s only gone beyond 12 games twice.

The 49ers don’t incur much risk with the signing. He’s a potential game-changer for their offense. There is risk involved though for Reed. He missed all of last season after getting diagnosed with the seventh concussion of his career following a hit in a preseason game. He was eager to get back in the league though and found a fit with an offensive coordinator who can maximize his skill set.

Reed probably won’t play a ton of snaps for San Francisco if he is able to put together a healthy season. Blocking isn’t his strong suit and the 49ers have a glut of capable blocking tight ends. Where he’ll help is providing another reliable target on third downs and in the red zone. He’ll also help Shanahan devise new ways to stress defenses to create holes for explosive plays. The injury questions are going to loom as long as he’s on the field, but Reed has the potential to be one of the NFL’s most important offseason signings.

Report: 49ers to sign veteran WR

The 49ers added a much-needed veteran to their receiving corps with former Chargers WR Travis Benajmin.

The 49ers on Tuesday added some veteran depth to their young receiving corps. They’re due to sign former Chargers wide receiver Travis Benjamin to a one-year deal.

Benjamin, 30, was a fourth-round pick of the Browns in 2012, and was there in 2014 when Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator. He had moderate success his first three years, but exploded in 2015 with 68 catches for 966 yards and five touchdowns.

He spent the next four years of his career with the Chargers, but never replicated the success of his 2015 campaign. In four seasons with Los Angeles, he posted 93 catches for 1,430 yards and nine touchdowns in 42 games.

His 2019 season was limited to just five games after a quad injury landed him on injured reserve.

Benjamin’s experience in Shanahan’s offense could pay dividends if the offseason program is cut short due to ongoing shutdowns for COVID-19.

Adding Benjamin doesn’t rule out wide receiver as a need for the 49ers moving forward. They still need a No. 1 type of receiver on the outside.

Benjamin doesn’t fit that mold. He’s 5-9,180 pounds and ran a blistering 4.36 40 at the combine in 2012. That’s the kind of speed the 49ers miss when Marquise Goodwin is out, and given the cap savings San Francisco can create by trading or releasing Goodwin, it stands to reason they may be looking for a player who can fill that role.

He also has a ton of experience as a punt returner, with 109 returns in his career. Benjamin won’t be guaranteed a roster spot going into the season, but his ability to play multiple roles makes him an enticing option heading into next season.