In what could end up being one of the more intriguing moves of their busy offseason, the San Francisco 49ers signed former Bears quarterback Matt Barkley to a contract Thursday night. The NFL Network reported the news first.
QB news: The #49ers are signing Matt Barkley, source said. He impressed late in the season when given a shot.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2017
The tape was better than the 14 interceptions and 68.5 quarterback rating indicated last season when he was thrown into the fire for the first time. Behind a decimated roster, Barkley threw for 300 yards three times and his completion percentage kept climbing after each start. Chicago’s only win down the stretch was a 26-6 drubbing over the 49ers on Dec. 4. Kyle Shanahan has made it clear he judges the tape, not statistics. Who knows, Barkley may have been a John Lynch guy Shanahan agreed to work with.
Barkley took over the position in Chicago after Brian Hoyer broke his arm. Depending on which rookie is drafted, Hoyer will have the leg up heading into training camp, but I wouldn’t necessarily automatically count Barkley out. Lynch and Shanahan want to build a more competitive atmosphere in the spring and summer, and there’s no better way to make a practice electric than to have a quarterback competition. Shanahan will likely keep three quarterbacks and if Barkley’s accurate, he’ll stick around.
Still, there’s a reason Chicago is moving on from Barkley. He’ll turn 27 in September. The clock is ticking. There’s going to be little expectations of him to do anything spectacular. He’s a low risk signing that at the very least adds depth to a brand new quarterback’s room. He has a ceiling.
But then again, we’ve seen Shanahan take Hoyer’s ceiling to new heights, and countless other players. Why not place a couple of poker chips on Barkley?
Hoyer obviously had to expect some type of competition behind him. He’s a pro’s pro. The media is going to love him, they have in every market. He can handle this.
But it’s about to get very crowded in that quarterback’s room. Hoyer knows he’s going to have to perform to keep the job. Reuniting with Barkley will be a daily reminder.
