The 49ers have used free agency to sign a pair of veteran quarterbacks to the roster. They won't be the last signal-callers added to the mix.
Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley were lured to Santa Clara in quick order this week, but new coach Kyle Shanahan fully expects to draft rookie competition.
"We'll continue to look," Shanahan said Friday, per CSN Bay Area. "You rarely take just two guys into a camp. So I have a pretty good feeling we will add more. I don't know whether that'll be through free agency or the draft, but there's every avenue possible. We don't limit ourselves to anything."
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Of course the 49ers will continue to add passers. Shanahan wasn't hired to sell fans on the idea of recreating the same quarterback room used by last year's three-win Chicago Bears. Hoyer is a serviceable stopgap with recent starting experience, while Barkley had his moments in 2016. The Niners, though, expect Shanahan to pinpoint and groom a long-term solution at the most important position in sports.
For that to happen, fans might have to wait a year for Kirk Cousins to break free from the Redskins. Shanahan could also latch onto a rookie this April or grab help in next year's draft, a class considered to be loaded with talent under center.
The rapid-fire signing of Hoyer and Barkley is a strong indicator that Shanahan doesn't plan to use the No. 2 pick on a quarterback. If he doesn't see any of this year's prospects as immediate starting talent, he wouldn't be alone in that evaluation.
What the Niners do have in their new coach is a proven offensive schemer who tends to get the most out of his passers no matter where he goes. That will have to do until Shanahan finds his guy.
