Why 49ers signed journeyman Dobbs to compete for backup job

The 49ers hoped to bring back their top three quarterbacks from last season. But they settled for two out of three. Starter Brock Purdy enters the third season of his four-year contract as the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. The 49ers re-signed Brandon Allen at the start of the free-agent signing period after a season in which he was behind Purdy and backup Sam Darnold on the depth chart. "We were kind of waiting on Darnold because Darnold had interest in coming back if a starting opportunity did not present itself," 49ers general manager John Lynch said this week at the NFL Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. Darnold appears to be in line to replace Kirk Cousins as the Minnesota Vikings' starting quarterback after signing a one-year, $10 million contract. "We kind of gathered and said, 'Let's get one more option for competition at No. 2,'" Lynch said. The 49ers recently signed Joshua Dobbs to a one-year, fully guaranteed $2.35 million contract to compete with Allen for the backup role. The 49ers faced some competition to sign Dobbs, Lynch said. Dobbs spent last offseason with the Cleveland Browns before landing with the Arizona Cardinals in a late-August trade. He proved to be...