Monday at 1 p.m. PST is the deadline for NFL teams to sign their own franchise tag players to long-term deals. As all eyes remain on Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brian Hoyer joined "NFL Live" on ESPN amidst all of the discussion.
Cousins could eventually be Hoyer's replacement in San Francisco. Should the Washington quarterback reach free agency in 2018, the 49ers are expected to heavily pursue him. It has been no secret that 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is a big fan of Cousins and every report and rumor out of Washington has stated that the quarterback would love to play for Shanahan in San Francisco. Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Washington during Cousins' first two seasons in the NFL.
The discussion was somewhat awkward as Adam Schefter, Dianna Russini, and the rest of the "NFL Live" hosts debated on the possibility of Cousins eventually ending up in San Francisco. It was awkward because Hoyer was off screen but just mere feet away. Hoyer did not enter that particular discussion but the hosts kept looking over to him and saying things like, "With all due respect to our friend Brian Hoyer is who standing there."
In a later discussion with Schefter and Russini, Hoyer said that he was signed to be the starting quarterback for the 49ers because he is familiar with Shanahan's system. While he was not involved in the earlier discussion, Schefter did ask Hoyer about the whole Cousins situation. Hoyer indicated that the situation has nothing to do with 2017, which is what he is focused on.
"Look, this is 2017," Hoyer said. "Kirk is going to be in Washington. I'm going to be in San Francisco. That's really all you can worry about. You can control what you can control and go out there and do the best you can. I think that's the one thing of this tumultuous career that I've had. You've had some highs and some lows. You know, don't worry about things you can't control because it really doesn't do you any good."
49ers' QB Brian Hoyer responds to Kirk Cousins being linked to the spot he now occupies:... https://t.co/lUoq49x3rM
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 17, 2017
The 49ers signed Hoyer to a two-year contract on the first day of free agency. He immediately became the presumptive starter for San Francisco even after the team added Hoyer's Chicago Bears teammate Matt Barkley and rookies C.J. Beathard and Nick Mullens.
Hoyer, an eight-year veteran, started 13 games while current 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator for a season (2014) in Cleveland. That season, Hoyer passed for a career-high 3,326 yards, completing 55.3-percent of his passes and throwing 12 touchdowns compared to 13 interceptions. Over the past three seasons, Hoyer has passed for 7,377 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions through 31 games.
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