SF 49ers roster: Predicting how quarterback room looks in 2021

SF 49ers Quarterback No. 2: Matt Barkley, Buffalo Bills

One of the elements missing from San Francisco’s quarterbacking situation the past three years was a veteran signal-caller capable of either pushing a player in front of him on the depth chart or, at the very least, providing a mentoring of sorts.

Jimmy Garoppolo should have had someone pushing him the last two seasons. Instead, Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard didn’t pose much of a threat at all.

So, instead of retaining either Mullens or Beathard, Kyle Shanahan goes back to a player he picked to help reform the roster back in 2017: current Buffalo Bills backup quarterback Matt Barkley.

Barkley, 31 years old, is going to be an unrestricted free agent next season and has spent all of this year learning Buffalo’s standout offense underneath coordinator Brian Daboll. While Barkley is a clear downgrade behind the Bills’ Josh Allen, there’s some value in the SF 49ers bringing aboard someone of Barkley’s ilk.

For starters, Barkley already has a modest understanding of Shanahan’s offense from his days with the Niners in training camp and the preseason in 2017 before being cut.

And there were arguments Barkley should have been San Francisco’s starter over the player Shanahan eventually chose early that year, Brian Hoyer.

Considering the SF 49ers have just over $22 million in cap space next season with a plethora of pending free agents needing to be re-signed, Barkley would be a cheap presence who could at least offer modest starting capacity.