Justin Fields, Trey Lance Considering Holding Second Pro Days?
In moving up to No. 3 overall, the 49ers shook up the draft late last month. They revealed the move was for a quarterback, and Kyle Shanahan added that he is already comfortable with three passers in this draft. The fifth-year San Francisco HC added that he could get there with the other two top QB prospects as well.
It is not known which members of this draft’s quarterback quintet fall into which category, but two prospects are considering adjusting their offseason itineraries as a result of the 49ers’ trade. Justin Fields and Trey Lance are considering staging second pro days in order to throw in front of top 49ers brass, Albert Breer of SI.com notes.
Neither Shanahan nor 49ers GM John Lynch attended North Dakota State’s pro day March 12, with the team’s top two power brokers not wanting to tip their hands ahead of the trade. Ohio State’s pro day occurred on Tuesday, overlapping with Alabama’s second pro day. Shanahan and Lynch opted to trek to Tuscaloosa for Mac Jones‘ workout, though it was expected Shanahan would meet with Fields at some point as well. Shanahan confirmed Jones is under consideration for the No. 3 pick, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (video link).
With the COVID-19 pandemic nixing private workouts for a second straight year, any additional throwing sessions would need to be on campus and would be open for all teams to attend. It would certainly be interesting if Fields and Lance conducting additional pro days with the purpose of auditioning for one franchise, but the Jaguars and Jets have been heavily connected to Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson. The 49ers’ direction is less certain, though Jones has recently been linked by multiple experts to go third overall. ESPN.com’s Todd McShay now mocks Jones to the 49ers. Prior to the trade, Mel Kiper Jr. had Jones falling to No. 15.
Should the 49ers draft Jones, Fields and Lance could fall out of the top five. But neither should be expected to drop too far, with several teams — both in and out of the top 10 — in need of a hopeful franchise quarterback.
49ers Monitored Deshaun Watson
Prior to swinging a deal for the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft — which they have admitted they will use on a quarterback — the 49ers monitored Deshaun Watson‘s availability, as Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com writes. That’s not terribly surprising, as the Niners were reportedly high on Watson’s list of preferred destinations, and San Francisco has been connected in some way or another to many of the quarterbacks that were on the trade and free agent markets this offseason.
Ultimately, after the club managed to retain key players like left tackle Trent Williams and fullback Kyle Juszczyk, and after Watson’s off-field situation made a trade for him infeasible, GM John Lynch approached ownership with the proposal to acquire the No. 3 pick from Miami. Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan believe the roster is championship-ready, and while they feel they can win with Jimmy Garoppolo under center — after all, the Garoppolo-led 49ers were in the Super Bowl about 14 months ago — they knew they needed a backup plan given Jimmy G’s injury history. And, with the 2022 class of collegiate QBs looking like an uninspiring group at the moment, San Francisco decided the time was right to make a bold move to secure a top prospect who would represent a Garoppolo fallback plan this year and who has a real chance of becoming a top-flight passer down the line.
The fact that the club was looking at players like Joe Flacco and Andy Dalton even after they had initiated talks to make a move up the draft board underscores the fact that the team is not comfortable with Garoppolo on a long-term basis and was considering trading him and replacing him with a different veteran that could have served as a bridge to a younger passer. Of course, a trade for Watson would have obviated the need for a rookie signal-caller, but even if Watson weren’t facing legal issues, there would have been stiff competition for his services, if the Texans had chosen to move him at all. While a player like Trey Lance, Justin Fields, or Mac Jones are hardly the sure thing that Watson is, we know that Shanahan prides himself on his ability to get the most out of his quarterbacks.
Garoppolo, meanwhile, was understandably unhappy when he learned that the team was drafting his replacement, and it sounds as if Shanahan made no bones about the fact that 2021 is looking like Garoppolo’s last year in San Francisco. As Wagoner writes, Shanahan said Garoppolo ultimately understood the plan to bring him back for “one more go” and “rehabilitate his value” (presumably for a trade in 2022).
“I’m sure Jimmy was a little pissed off from it, just like I would be, too,” Shanahan said. “The more mad Jimmy gets, usually the better he gets. (If) Jimmy just gets madder and stays healthy, this is going to be a good thing for Jimmy, too, which could be a great problem for the 49ers.”
As for who the 49ers might take at No. 3? Jones is a highly accurate passer, especially on intermediate throws, and boasts a terrific deep ball. In other words, he checks a lot of Shanahan’s boxes. He is also said to have high-level football IQ and excellent leadership abilities, and while many pundits have suggested his ceiling is lower than that of Lance or Fields, ESPN’s Adam Schefter cites one NFC GM who says teams have Jones graded much higher than the media does (via Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area). As such, Schefter says he would not be surprised if the 49ers pull the trigger on Jones.
Broncos, 49ers Showed Interest In QB Andy Dalton
Andy Dalton had multiple suitors before joining the Bears. Both the Broncos and 49ers expressed interest in the veteran quarterback before he signed with Chicago, writes Dan Pompei of The Athletic.
Dalton ultimately inked a one-year, $10MM deal with the Bears, a contract the other reported suitors were unwilling to match. Per Pompei, the Bears also promised the 33-year-old that he’d have the inside track at the starting gig, a commitment that neither the Broncos nor 49ers could offer.
Still, Denver’s interest in Dalton isn’t that surprising, as the organization has seemingly been connected to every available quarterback (except, reportedly, Sam Darnold). The team made an offer for Matthew Stafford, and they were planning to pursue Deshaun Watson before his off-field conduct began to surface. Dalton presumably would have competed with Drew Lock, the league-leader in interceptions this past season, for the starting gig.
The 49ers’ interest is more of a surprise, and it could be a bit telling. San Francisco has since traded for the third-overall pick, and considering the draft capital that they surrendered, they’ll presumably select a rookie quarterback at that spot. The front office has since committed to incumbent Jimmy Garoppolo as their starter in 2021 and their stopgap until the rookie QB is ready to step in, and it sounds like the veteran has yet to hit the trade block. The 49ers’ interest in Dalton could be a sign that the team was indeed considering trades for Garoppolo, as three (somewhat) starting-caliber quarterbacks would have been redundant.
Shanahan: 49ers Comfortable With 3 Quarterbacks In Draft
The 49ers spent the past three weeks trying to trade up in the draft, finally securing a deal with the Dolphins to climb to No. 3 overall. Kyle Shanahan addressed the trade, confirming it was indeed to draft a quarterback.
“We looked at how our four years have gone and we looked at how we want the next four years to go and we looked at where we’re at in the draft and the options that are there,’ Shanahan said, via NFL.com. “And that’s why sitting there looking at this stuff since January and going all the way through the process, we felt pretty strongly we were gonna be left at the altar sitting there at 12.”
This move comes despite the Jets’ plans not being fully known. While Urban Meyer essentially confirmed the Jaguars will draft Trevor Lawrence first overall, the Jets will either trade the pick or trade Sam Darnold. Increased noise on option B, with the Jets then taking BYU’s Zach Wilson, has emerged in recent days.
[RELATED: Who will 49ers draft at No. 3 overall?]
The 49ers appear to be fine with selecting the third quarterback in this draft. Shanahan said the team is comfortable with three of the quarterback prospects being the long-term answer, adding that the Nos. 4 and 5 options would also have potential to elevate the team (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner). Shanahan expects the draft’s top five QBs to be drafted earlier than most currently anticipate. No draft has begun with four straight passers being chosen, but that possibility is live this year. Picking in the top five for the first time since they drafted Matt Ryan, the Falcons have a chance to select the 35-year-old’s heir apparent at No. 4.
With Lawrence and Wilson expected to be gone by the time the 49ers pick, they are likely going to draft either Justin Fields, Trey Lance or Mac Jones. Interestingly, Jones and Fields’ pro days are both Tuesday. Shanahan and John Lynch will attend Jones’, with the 49ers sending other staffers to Fields’, Peter King of NBC Sports notes. Assistant GM Adam Peters will be in Columbus for Fields’ pro day, per Wagoner, who adds that Shanahan plans to meet with the ex-Buckeyes standout at some point. Shanahan and Lynch did not attend Wilson’s or Lance’s, with the 49ers not wanting to arouse suspicion of their plans (Twitter link via SI.com’s Albert Breer). Shanahan also plans to meet with Lance.
While Shanahan said anyone on the 49ers could be traded, the team thus far wants to keep Jimmy Garoppolo around this season. The 49ers have become the latest team to mention the Chiefs’ Alex Smith-to-Patrick Mahomes transition. Shanahan said it will be difficult for the 49ers to find a quarterback better equipped to lead the team to wins this season, per Wagoner (on Twitter).
“We went to ownership and said, ‘Hey, things are looking good. We’d like to make this move, but we also don’t want to say goodbye to Jimmy,” Lynch said. “We’ve shown we can get to a Super Bowl with him. We can play at a high level and we don’t think those two things have to be mutually exclusive.”
Two years remain on Garoppolo’s contract. He is set to count $26.4MM against San Francisco’s cap this season. The 49ers could trade their incumbent starter and incur less than $3MM in dead money. The Patriots, who sent Garoppolo to the 49ers in 2017, may be interested.
Latest On 49ers’ Trade, QB Plans
The 49ers pulled off a stunner this past week when they traded with the Dolphins to move up to the third overall pick in next month’s draft. It was a move with significant implications that will have a domino effect around the rest of the league.
Now we’ve got some more details on how exactly the blockbuster went down and San Francisco’s plans moving forward, courtesy of Albert Breer of SI.com. Interestingly, although we heard the 49ers and Jets didn’t have talks about a trade for the second overall pick, the 49ers “did have some internal discussion” about Sam Darnold, Breer writes. It’s confirmation that after missing out on Matthew Stafford, San Francisco still was mulling other veteran options before ultimately opting to roll with a rookie.
Breer also writes that the 49ers’ scouts gave management a “bleak” picture of the 2022 quarterback class, reinforcing the need to make a move in this draft cycle rather than next. The 49ers and Dolphins started talking trade “about three weeks ago,” and the talks were kept a tight secret.
Other teams inquired about trading for the third pick, and those other teams “were told only that Miami had a strong offer for it,” but not from whom. Breer confirms the Patriots inquired about Jimmy Garoppolo earlier this offseason, but still says that Garoppolo isn’t available in a trade.
That’s in large part because San Francisco “believes it has a championship roster,” and doesn’t want to give the keys over to a rookie blindly before even seeing them in practice. It sounds like if whatever quarterback the 49ers draft at three comes in and looks great during OTAs and training camp, then Garoppolo could be moved over the summer, which Breer speculates about as well.
No matter what happens next, it was a bold move by Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. We won’t know the full scope of the fallout for quite some time.
49ers DL Kevin Givens Charged With Assault
49ers defensive lineman Kevin Givens is facing an assault charge arising from an alleged incident that took place in Baltimore on February 21, as Michael Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.
According to an affidavit signed by the alleged victim, Hayden Bosley, Givens and Bosley were at a Sheraton hotel in Baltimore with several other friends. Bosley says that Givens became upset with the other members of the group, and ultimately the two men got into an altercation that culminated with Givens tackling Bosley, resulting in black eyes, scrapes, and four hours in the emergency room.
The details are a bit fuzzy, but court records indicate that a trial date is set for April 26. The 49ers have said that they are gathering facts and will continue to monitor the situation.
Givens, a 2019 UDFA out of Penn State, appeared in just one game in his rookie campaign after spending most of the year on the practice squad. But he played a much larger role last season, seeing time in 13 games (one start) while accumulating 19 tackles and a sack. He served as the primary backup to D.J. Jones, who recently re-signed with the 49ers and who offered some high praise for Givens.
“I look up to Kevin Givens,” Jones said. “Nobody’s talking about him, but they will be soon.”
As a recent UDFA who has yet to truly establish himself in the league, Givens can ill-afford a criminal charge of any kind. If the accusations have any veracity, his spot on the 49ers, and perhaps even his playing career, could be in jeopardy.
Poll: Who Will 49ers Draft At No. 3?
Trevor Lawrence has been expected to lead off the draft for a while now, while the Jets’ connection to BYU’s Zach Wilson continues to gain steam. Although the Jets are not a lock to move on from Sam Darnold and take Wilson, they appear to be on the doorstep of such a consensus. The draft suspense may, then, begin with the 49ers.
Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have each endorsed Jimmy Garoppolo as the planned 2021 starter, and the 49ers are sending out signals they do not expect to trade their incumbent passer. But the team parted with tremendous future draft capital to climb nine spots to No. 3 overall. The 49ers should be widely expected to draft a quarterback in the first round for the first time since they chose Alex Smith first overall in 2005. Which one will they select?
Only two drafts — 1971 and 1999 — have begun with three consecutive teams taking quarterbacks. With the Falcons connected to choosing a Matt Ryan heir apparent, this draft could be the first to start with four straight QBs. Should Lawrence and Wilson head to the Jaguars and Jets, the 49ers will have their pick of seemingly Justin Fields, Trey Lance or Mac Jones. With a Garoppolo trade seemingly now in play, one of these three could have the keys to the San Francisco’s offense as soon as this coming season.
Fields has resided on this tier the longest, being the 1B option to Lawrence going into the 2020 season. Dwayne Haskins‘ Ohio State successor did not do too much to ding his stock, even though multiple choppy performances did occur this past season. Fields boasted a 41-3 TD-INT ratio in 2019 and dominated in the Buckeyes’ rout of Clemson in the College Football Playoff this past season. That said, Hall of Fame scout Gil Brandt does not expect the 49ers to go with Fields, whom some teams have well outside the top 10 on their respective boards.
Fields’ final college QB opponent, Jones has received glowing endorsements from soon-to-be first-round picks DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle. The ex-Crimson Tide pass catchers preferred Jones to the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa, and the former completed a stunning 77% of his passes, averaged 11.2 yards per attempt and finished a 13-game season with 41 touchdown passes. Scouts Inc., however, has the less mobile Jones well below Fields and Lance, slotting the one-year Alabama starter 28th overall.
Scouts Inc. rates Lance as this draft’s third-best QB prospect, placing him 12th (to Fields’ 13th position). The North Dakota State prodigy profiles as one of the strangest prospects to ever land on the top-10 radar. Division I-FCS players typically do not enter drafts early; Lance put his name in this year’s draft after one full season as the Bison’s starter. While that season featured eye-popping production (28 TD passes, no INTs, 1,100 rushing yards) and resulted in North Dakota State’s latest title, a team using a top-five pick on an FCS prospect with one season of experience and no Scouting Combine to further judge him would be a historic move.
Where will the 49ers go at No. 3? How will they proceed with Garoppolo and his $26.4MM cap number? Vote in PFR’s latest poll (link for app users) and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section.
49ers To Sign LB Nathan Gerry
Nathan Gerry is heading west. The veteran linebacker is signing with the 49ers, Matt Barrows of The Athletic notes (subscription required). John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia was first with the news (via Twitter).
The 2017 fifth-round pick out of Nebraska had spent his entire career with the Eagles, appearing in 46 regular-season games and six postseason games (including three during Philly’s 2017 run to a Super Bowl championship). After serving as mostly a backup during his first two years in the pros, Gerry started 12 of his 16 contests in 2019, finishing with 78 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions (including a pick-six), and five QB hits.
The 26-year-old started each of his seven games in 2020, collecting 57 tackles, one sack, and four tackles for loss. He was placed on injured reserve in late October with an ankle injury, ending his season.
The 49ers seem set at linebacker with Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw and Azeez Al-Shaair, so Gerry will likely have to settle into a backup role on defense. He’ll probably play a bigger role on special teams; he logged 834 special teams snaps for the Eagles over his four years with the team.
49ers To Sign WR Mohamed Sanu
Mohamed Sanu is heading back to San Francisco. The veteran wide receiver is signing a one-year deal with the 49ers, agent Mike McCartney announced on Twitter.
Sanu played in three games for the 49ers during the 2020 campaign, hauling in a single nine-yard catch. He was released in early October and ultimately caught on with the Lions. After earning a promotion from the practice squad in late November, Sanu proceeded to appear in seven games (four starts) for Detroit, catching 16 passes for 178 yards and one score.
While the veteran will be 32 by the start of the 2021 campaign, he’s still only two years removed from a career year in Atlanta. During that 2018 season, Sanu finished with 66 receptions for 838 yards and four touchdowns. He was traded to the Patriots for a second-rounder during the 2019 season, but did little during his half-season stint in New England.
Following the 49ers blockbuster trade yesterday, it’s uncertain whether a rookie or Jimmy Garoppolo will be under center for the 49ers next season. Regardless, Sanu should provide the team with some nice depth at receiver behind 2020 first-rounder Brandon Aiyuk and 2019 second-rounder Deebo Samuel. Sanu will compete with the likes of Richie James Jr., Jalen Hurd, Jauan Jennings, and veteran Travis Benjamin for playing time.
NFL Contract Details: Fuller, Ford, Barr, Pats
As free agency’s second wave continues, here are the latest contract details from around the league:
- 49ers DE Dee Ford: Two years, $24MM. $11.6MM guaranteed, with $4.6MM of that sum due in 2022, David Lombardi and Matt Barrows of The Athletic note (subscription required). Ford’s 2021 guarantees ($7MM) include a $4MM base salary. Ford’s contract also includes a void year (2023).
- Dolphins WR Will Fuller: One year, $10.63MM. Contract maxes out at $13.63MM, with $3MM available in performance-based incentives, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Fuller will receive a $9.6MM signing bonus and is due a $990K base salary.
- Vikings LB Anthony Barr: One year, fully guaranteed $9.4MM. $8.4MM signing bonus, $1MM base salary. Barr’s cap number will drop to $6.1MM. Contract includes $3MM in sack-based incentives and features two void years, per the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling (all Twitter links).
- Patriots T Trent Brown: Fully guaranteed $6.5MM base salary, up to $2MM in per-game roster bonuses, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Contract can climb to $11MM based on the roster bonuses, $1MM for 90% playing time, $1MM for a Pro Bowl nod and $500K in weight incentives. Brown must stay under 380 pounds, Vic Tafur of The Athletic tweets.
- Bills DE Mario Addison: $4.1MM base salary in 2021, $3.25MM of that is guaranteed, Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic tweets. Addison is also due a $1.9MM roster bonus. His contract will now void after 2021.
- Colts T Sam Tevi: One year, $2.51MM. $1MM guaranteed, $1.5MM base salary. The deal also includes $1MM in playing-time incentives, Wilson tweets.