New 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan wants to find a long-term solution at the quarterback position. But if that long-term solution turns out to be a rookie who’s not ready to start in 2017, Matt Schaub and Brian Hoyer are among the possibilities for a stopgap starter.
Schaub and Hoyer both have connections to Shanahan, and Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee writes that he expects either Schaub or Hoyer or both to be added to the 49ers’ roster.
Schaub was with Shanahan in Atlanta last season, was previously with Shanahan in Houston and has been linked to Shanahan as a possible 49ers quarterback in 2017. Schaub becomes a free agent on March 9.
Hoyer started 13 games for the Browns in 2014 when Shanahan was their offensive coordinator, and the two made for a pretty good combination, with the Browns going 7-6 in the games Hoyer started. Hoyer has heaped praise on Shanahan recently, and he also becomes a free agent on March 9.
Both Schaub and Hoyer are in their 30s and neither has ever been a great NFL starter, so they wouldn’t exactly bring a ton of excitement to San Francisco. But as available veterans go, you could do worse than Schaub and Hoyer. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if that’s the direction the 49ers decide to go in for now, while drafting a rookie quarterback for the future.