Two NFL clubs whose quarterback futures have come under heavy speculation entering the 2016 NFL Draft will host the best available at the position for pre-draft visits this week.
The 49ers will host North Dakota State's Carson Wentz and Cal's Jared Goff this week, per NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport. The Sacramento Bee first reported the news. NFL Media's Albert Breer is reporting the Eagles are hosting Goff, Wentz, and Memphis' Paxton Lynch this week. Rapoport reported that Mississippi State's Dak Prescott visited the Eagles on Monday.
The 49ers' offseason saga with quarterback Colin Kaepernick continues to simmer, while the Eagles have conducted private workouts with many of the draft's top quarterbacks. If San Francisco, which holds the No. 7 overall pick, or Philadelphia (No. 8) is intent on landing Goff or Wentz, they must at least be doing their homework on the cost of trading up. In fact, NFL Media analysts Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks identified the 49ers last week as the team most likely to trade up for the No. 1 overall pick.
New coach Doug Pederson and other Eagles officials have worked out Goff, Wentz, Lynch, Stanford's Kevin Hogan and Penn State's Christian Hackenberg, at a minimum. An NFC executive told CFB 24/7 last month that the Eagles have high interest in Wentz.
The 49ers will also host Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook on a visit this week, per Rapoport. Cook will also meet with the Bears. NFL Media draft expert Mike Mayock rates Cook as the No. 4 QB in the draft, behind Wentz, Goff and Lynch, who is conspicuously absent from the 49ers' list of visits and private workouts, as Rapoport notes.
Rapoport reported the deadlock between the 49ers and Broncos in trade talks regarding Kaepernick stems from the 49ers' unwillingness to pay a portion of the QB's salary as part of the deal. If either side budges, it might not happen until until draft weekend (April 28-30), when the leverage game figures to take another turn.
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