It appears the 49ers will begin the regular season with just two quarterbacks on their 53-man roster.
The team released QB Matt Barkley on Friday, their first move of the 90 to 53-man roster cut-down period, as reported by Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
49ers release quarterback Matt Barkley
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) September 1, 2017
After Barkley didn’t play a single snap in Thursday’s preseason finale vs. the Chargers, the writing was on the wall that he had lost the second-string QB job behind Brian Hoyer to rookie C.J. Beathard. Beathard had another impressive performance on Thursday, scoring on a Steve Young-esque 62-yard run in the second quarter. Barkley did not see much action in the preseason and was relatively undistinguished when he did, going 13-of-21 for 197 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
The 49ers signed Barkley, 26, to a two-year contract on the first day of free agency and awarded him a $500,000 signing bonus. A fourth-round pick by the Eagles in 2013 after a standout college career with USC, getting beat out by Beathard is a significant setback for Barkley, who was coming off his best season as a pro with the Bears in 2016. While his counting stats weren’t impressive last season, 59.7 completion percentage and a 68.3 QB rating, Barkley showed flashes of competency despite being on one of the worst teams in the NFL, and was ranked as the 21st most effective QB in the league by Pro Football Focus.