If there’s one thing Kyle Shanahan adores, it’s players he’s worked with before.
Multiple reports on Wednesday say quarterback Brian Hoyer has signed a two-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers.
Of course, his name isn’t as glamorous as a Kirk Cousins or Jimmy Garoppolo, but Hoyer is Shanahan’s ideal bridge quarterback to pair with a rookie from the upcoming draft class. Hoyer is a competitive leader who will fight tooth and nail for the starting position — he’ll likely be under center Week 1 — but the 31-year-old also recognizes his role will be to impart wisdom on a young gunslinger. When the time is right to handoff the baton, Hoyer will be content coaching up a rookie from the sidelines
49ers fans who are skeptical of this decision at quarterback should understand the team is showing their hand. Committing big money to free agent Mike Glennon or trading a high draft pick for A.J. McCarron was not worth it in Shanahan and GM John Lynch’s eyes. San Francisco’s new head coach can squeeze enough juice out of Hoyer’s orange to make this offense work in 2017. Leaving enough cap room to acquire Cousins or Garoppolo next offseason is a priority and Hoyer will come at a bargain price to leave the 49ers with some wiggle room. The Cousins deal is still theoretically on the table.
Famously in Cleveland, Hoyer and Shanahan raced the Browns off to a 7-4 record in 2014, their best start since 1999. Using a ragtag group of receivers and two rookie running backs, Hoyer commanded the offense and made big plays in close to games to help Cleveland overachieve. It was by far the best season of Hoyer’s career. Paired with an improved defense, there is a similar hope he’ll be able to do the same in 2017 at Levi’s Stadium.
I worked together with Hoyer and Shanahan as a Cleveland Browns employee and got to see firsthand how close of a relationship the two had. I penned an October profile on how the pair were constantly texting each other ideas, even at late hours of the night.
“One thing Kyle does a great job of is marrying things together,” said Hoyer. “One play may look like this, and then you have three plays (where) at the snap of the ball they look the same. We’re doing a bunch of different things. I think the longer we go out and continue to have success, the more we can add and be more creative.”
Hoyer can be hit or miss with his accuracy and he doesn’t have the strongest arm. His struggles in the month of November are a real issue — maybe he won’t be starting by then.
But Hoyer started his career under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in New England. This is a cerebral quarterback who understands where to go with the football. That’s exactly what Shanahan is looking for as he establishes his system in his first season, in playbook that often features 17-word calls. And had he not gotten injured last season in Chicago, the Bears might’ve kept Hoyer. He threw six touchdowns and zero interceptions while completing 67 percent of his passes. If Shanahan is getting anything remotely close to this quarterback, the 49ers will be a competitive football team in 2017.
“I think he’s gotten better in each game,” Shanahan said in October of 2014. “I always will say you get better or worse, and if he continues to get better each week I think we’re going to have a pretty good quarterback when it’s all said and done.”
Sources in Cleveland were well aware that both Hoyer and Shanahan were very upset with the quarterback’s benching for Johnny Manziel in December of 2014. Shanahan eventually resigned from his offensive coordinator post, Hoyer was eventually replaced by Josh McCown.
Things won’t be as chaotic this time around, but Hoyer’s role as a bridge quarterback for a rookie is going to remain similar. He’s not San Francisco’s long term answer at the position, but he is a part-time solution.