Kyle Shanahan loves his current quarterback room. Last season, the San Francisco 49ers head coach saw his team go through four quarterbacks, ending up without a healthy one in January's NFC Championship Game.
This offseason, the NFL reinstated the emergency quarterback rule, allowing teams to suit up a third quarterback without the move counting toward the game-day roster limitations. That rule change resulted from the 49ers' unfortunate luck in that mess of a playoff contest last season.
Shanahan doesn't necessarily see it as a significant advantage, though. That's because, to dress that third quarterback, he'd have to be on the 53-man roster to begin with. The coach recently told Tim Kawakami of The Athletic that he wouldn't necessarily take advantage of the rule based on something that happened one time to him over his entire NFL career.
But what if the 49ers did have three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster? What if they had four? Shanahan isn't dismissing the possibility.
Kyle Shanahan didn't rule out the possibility of keeping four QBs on the 53-man roster (Purdy, Darnold, Lance, Brandon Allen). His dad did it once. So did Belichick. Rookie by the name of @TomBrady was the 4th-stringer. https://t.co/9iAqgQoJ0U
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) July 26, 2023
"For one thing, Shanahan not only strongly suggested the Niners will keep three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster come cutdown day, but he also left open the possibility that they'll keep four," Michael Silver wrote in a feature for the San Francisco Chronicle, following a conversation with Shanahan on Wednesday.
That would mean keeping Brock Purdy, the team's likely starter, Trey Lance, the former No. 3 overall pick, and veterans Sam Darnold and Brandon Allen. Shanahan likes all four. And with one of the most talented rosters in the NFL, maybe the most talented Shanahan has had, the head coach believes he can win with any of those guys.
"If you have three quarterbacks good enough to make teams in the NFL, you always keep 'em," Shanahan told Silver. "And then that's what I'm happy about, 'cause I think we've got four right now. You don't see many people keep four, but it's been done before."
His father, Mike Shanahan, once did it in Washington. That's because Pat White "tore it up" in the preseason. Kyle Shanahan, his dad's offensive coordinator at the time, said, "[A]nd we loved him, so we kept him. But you can't do it too long (because it impacts) your roster."
Four quarterbacks on your roster may seem like overkill, and it is probably unlikely that will happen. But with how last season went down, keeping at least three on the 53-man roster, as the 49ers did to start last season, might be sensible.
Click here to read Silver's entire feature at the San Francisco Chronicle.