49ers add veteran Brandon Allen to shaky quarterback room
By Peter Panacy
The 49ers are bringing aboard former Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen to serve as a veteran mentor to their quarterback room.
The San Francisco 49ers enter the 2023 offseason with only a few pressing question marks, but arguably the biggest among them is what transpires at quarterback.
Based on general manager John Lynch's comments prior to the NFL Draft last month, it would appear as if the Niners are fully endorsing Brock Purdy under center as the team's starter moving forward. That would be fine, except Purdy is coming off offseason shoulder surgery and could potentially miss the start of the regular season.
That would leave only quarterbacks Trey Lance and Sam Darnold in San Francisco's quarterback room to handle offseason workouts, training camp and the preseason.
On Wednesday, though, news broke that the 49ers were adding another body to the quarterback room after declining to take a rookie via the 2023 draft.
49ers to sign QB Brandon Allen, who mentored Joe Burrow with Bengals
On Wednesday, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported (alongside Mike Garafolo) that the Niners were signing former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen.
Veteran QB Brandon Allen is signing with the #49ers, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 3, 2023
Allen helped mentor Joe Burrow in Cincinnati the past three years. Now Allen joins a young QB room in San Francisco. #TakeItOffMG
Allen, who'll turn 31 years old this September, spent the previous three years with Cincy and helped oversee its starter, Joe Burrow, develop into a bona fide NFL star.
As far as his on-field efforts, Allen had six starts with Cincinnati and went 1-5 in those games with 1,096 passing yards and seven touchdowns against four interceptions.
What will Brandon Allen's new role with 49ers be?
The financials of Allen's new deal with San Francisco aren't yet clear, but it's likely he'll be little more than an offseason/training camp body at least until Purdy comes back. The 49ers were rumored to be fielding trade calls for Lance during the draft, but the fact that no deal went down all but points to him sticking around on the roster.
At least for now.
The Niners could still trade Lance later this offseason, perhaps in August if another team ends up losing its starter, which is what fellow NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport suggested during the draft. Should that happen, Allen's spot on San Francisco's depth chart would be a bit safer.
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Until then, if anything even happens, he merely helps round out the quarterback room for offseason workouts.