49ers: 3 players who have overstayed their welcome in San Francisco
By Peter Panacy
No. 1: 49ers Quarterback C.J. Beathard
It wasn’t a good moment for Niners fans back in 2017. But when then-starting quarterback C.J. Beathard suffered an injury late in the team’s Week 12 game against the Seattle Seahawks, fans cheered both when Beathard exited and the newly acquired Jimmy Garoppolo came in to replace him.
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Beathard, a reach in Round 3 of that year’s draft, got more chances to start the subsequent season after Garoppolo’s ACL tear early in 2018. Yet the end results, aside from a game here and there, weren’t notably better than what he put up his rookie season.
In total, Beathard’s 1-9 record as a starter, career 57.3 completion percentage and 74.6 passer rating were among league lows for qualifiers during that two-year stretch.
As a result, fellow signal-caller Nick Mullens received the primary backup duties to Garoppolo, and Mullens has yet to relinquish that position. It was somewhat strange to see the 49ers carry three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster last season, keeping Beathard inactive as the No. 3 option. Yet that points to another reason why Beathard has essentially overstayed his welcome.
Like Solomon Thomas, Beathard is a free agent following this upcoming campaign. But there’s a chance he fails to make the regular-season roster this year, especially if Kyle Shanahan elects to go with only two quarterbacks on his roster.
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Fair or not, fans will probably be happy the day Beathard dons another uniform.