There’s been a swirl of rumors recently amongst 49ers quarterback Trey Lance as San Francisco does its usual quarterback shuffle. Some reports have the former No. 3 overall pick getting traded, while others have him staying pat.
The team reportedly views last year’s Irrelevant rookie Brock Purdy as their optimal starter, but Purdy isn’t expected to be healthy until much closer to the start of the season. In the meantime, the 49ers’ back up plan lies with Lance and free agent addition Sam Darnold, who many are now pegging as the team’s Week 1 starter come September.
Part of that has to do with Lance’s own injury situation, but according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN, general manager John Lynch told the media last weekend that Lance has been fully cleared to participate. Wagoner also reported that the team, who has experienced an inordinate amount of quarterback injuries, is looking to add a fourth passer via undrafted free agency. As of yet, no such signing has been reported, but the team did bring on veteran backup Brandon Allen days ago.
Here are a few other rumors surrounding last year’s NFC West champions:
- With starting tackle Mike McGlinchey departing in free agency for Denver, many thought San Francisco would address the departure through the draft. Seven rounds later, and no rookie offensive linemen were drafted by the 49ers. They did sign three undrafted rookies in Shepherd’s Joey Fisher, Washington’s Corey Luciano, and Hawai’i’s Ilm Manning, but they are expected to go with a currently rostered veteran, according to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. Branch saw San Francisco’s inaction in the draft as a vote of confidence in fourth-year tackle Colton McKivitz. McKivitz has been a reserve and spent some time on injured reserve in his first three years, only starting five games, but the Niners have faith in him, as evidenced by their re-signing him to a two-year deal in early-March.
- The 49ers re-signed veteran wide receiver Willie Snead for another year, and it appears his new deal will be the league’s veteran minimum, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. He’ll have a base salary of $1.17MM, $275K of it guaranteed, to go along with a $25K signing bonus. He’ll also receive a Week 1 bonus of $127.5K if he’s still rostered by then.
- It looks like the 49ers were able to prevent former safeties coach Daniel Bullocks from following his mentor, DeMeco Ryans, to Houston. According to Josh Alper of NBC Sports, Bullocks has been named San Francisco’s new defensive backs coach. Additionally, Nick Sorensen, a defensive assistant last year, has been promoted to defensive passing game specialist for 2023. Lastly, to round out the defensive staff, Andrew Hayes-Stoker, a defensive quality control coach last year, has been promoted to assistant defensive backs coach and Cameron Brown has been hired to fill the newly open quality control position.
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