On Monday, ESPN Insider Field Yates put his general manager hat on and predicted moves by all 32 NFL teams based on a previous list of the top free agent needs for each team. Of course, that previous list stated that quarterback is the biggest offseason need for the San Francisco 49ers.
What move would Yates make to address that need if he were the general manager of the 49ers?
"Let's use some of the info we have available to make a recommendation: Assuming Colin Kaepernick opts out of his contract, as ESPN Insider Adam Schefter has reported, the next domino could well be a pursuit of Matt Schaub, who Schefter reports is on San Francisco's radar. Do it. Schaub isn't the long-term answer by any stretch, but he's a useful bridge for the next year or two, as the 49ers look to the draft for their future at the position. Perhaps a deal worth $5 million annually for Schaub would make sense." – Field Yates, ESPN Insider
Whether or not the 49ers select their quarterback of the future in the 2017 or 2018 NFL Draft, the team will need a veteran placeholder until that rookie is ready to start – or at the minimum, as a backup. Of course, the 49ers might go in a different direction, electing to acquire a starting quarterback via a trade. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has already been linked to both Kirk Cousin of the Washington Redskins and Jimmy Garoppolo of the New England Patriots. However, both of those names would very likely require giving up numerous high draft picks and Cousins will likely be franchised by Washington.
Schaub, a 13-year veteran, is scheduled to become a free agent next month after signing a one-year deal with Atlanta in March of 2016. It was his second stint with the Falcons, the team that drafted Schaub out of Virginia in third round of the 2004 NFL Draft.
Schaub's best season as a quarterback came in 2009 with the Houston Texans, when Shanahan was his offensive coordinator there. Schaub passed for 4,770 yards, completing 67.9 percent of his passes while throwing 29 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. It was one of three 4,000-plus yard seasons (2009, 2010, 2012) that Schaub had with Houston. Over his entire career, Schaub has passed for 24,867 yards, thrown 133 touchdowns and 90 interceptions.
The 49ers are expected to be without a signed quarterback entering the new league year. Colin Kaepernick will reportedly opt out of his contract and become a free agent and no other 49ers quarterback was signed beyond the 2016 season.