SANTA CLARA – The 49ers reached contract agreements with two quarterbacks on the first day of free agency.
The team is not finished adding to the quarterback position to join Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley, who officially signed a two-year deal on Friday evening after clearing a physical. But there is no indication Colin Kaepernick remains in the picture – even as general manager John Lynch said a week ago the 49ers were not ready to rule out his return.
Kaepernick opted out of his contract last week to become a free agent. While each of the other unsigned 49ers quarterbacks still had name plates above their lockers from last season, Kaepernick’s has been removed. It’s not clear whether he took the marker at his stall with him at the end of the season.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Lynch said last week that it was “liberating” to start new at the quarterback position and have nobody at the position under contract. The 49ers are certainly not finished adding to the position.
“We’ll continue to look,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said on Friday, as the organization welcomed seven free agents to the organization.
“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.”
Hoyer became the first quarterback added by the new 49ers power team of Shanahan and Lynch. Hoyer signed a two-year deal, and is the presumptive starter with a lot of decisions yet to be made.
San Francisco 49ers
“I’m worried about this year and that’s all I can control and that’s coming in here and being the best quarterback I can for this organization,” Hoyer said. “It’s a real exciting time.
“I have a lot of confidence in myself. Unfortunately, every time something’s kind of gone well, there’s been an injury or a bad game here or there and you just put it behind you and you keep fighting. And that’s why, as I said, an undrafted player, I’m sitting here going into my ninth year with a great chance to be the quarterback for this team and that’s all I’m looking for.”