SF 49ers: 5 offensive free agents Mike LaFleur takes to NY Jets
By Peter Panacy
No. 4: SF 49ers Quarterback C.J. Beathard
This is actually less weird than it initially seems.
Early indications are the Jets will stick with embattled quarterback Sam Darnold into 2021, meaning they likely won’t be pursuing one of the top-name signal-callers with the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft.
Even if they did, however, Mike LaFleur could easily pull a Kyle Shanahan-like move when the latter was formulating his own quarterback room back in 2017.
That year, Shanahan brought aboard a former protege, quarterback Brian Hoyer, to at least kickstart things under center. The move didn’t exactly work out, and Hoyer was benched in favor of that year’s third-round rookie, C.J. Beathard.
Beathard’s tenure with the Niners wasn’t good. There’s no getting around that. But he at least has the experience of being immersed in the system for four full years. And if that system is to translate over to New York under LaFleur, either Darnold or another quarterback could benefit from a mentor.
Given Beathard’s struggles so far at the pro level, he’d be an awfully cheap commodity in NFL free agency and wouldn’t even have to make the 53-man roster come Week 1.
If anything, the move would just be to help out whoever the Jets envision as their No. 1 signal-caller to start 2021.