One day after signing presumed starter Alex Smith to a three-year contract, the 49ers have added another passer, Josh Johnson, to its quarterback stable. Johnson, 25, visited the 49ers today, met with coach Jim Harbaugh and then signed a two-year deal, a league source said. The deal reunites Johnson with Harbaugh, his coach at the University of San Diego. Johnson had been the understudy to Josh Freeman in Tampa Bay the last two seasons. The Oakland native became a free agent this year, and he visited the Washington Redskins earlier in the week. Source: Sacramento Bee
haha. this one strikes me as strange also but not for financial reasons because we don't know what they're paying josh. he may have taken a vet minimum deal, which is not financially stupid for any team, if he is just being brought in as the #3 guy. we all know that smith is a borderline starting talent. however, wasn't that why they spent such a high draft pick on kapernick last year? people are hinting that johnson may battle kapernick for the #2 position, which would not be a good sign at all for the future of kapernick. obviously johnson is not a grizzled veteran but he has taken a lot of snaps in this league and there really isn't anything about what he has done that would make us believe he can start in this league. In fact, if he ends up as the #2 qb on your depth chart, it should signal to us that kapernick is likely never going to make it in this league.
I'd say it's going to be a straight up 3 way competition, and I disagree that if Kaep ends up #3 he's not going to make it. He was raw as all hell coming out, all the physical talent in the world but unrefined and coming out of a gimmicky pistol offense in Nevada. I personally had him pegged as being a 2 year project at least before he would be ready ready, so I'm not tripping if he's still sitting this year. He's still the future, and Alexes contract is structured so that when he is ready, Alex can be dumped with minimal repercussion.
well, those are valid points. it could be that they just feel the earliest kaep might be ready is 2014, in which case Alex's contract and the 2-years of johnson would get them through those 2 years. We'll just have to see what happens.
I wouldnt be surprised to see Alex regress this year. I think alot of teams are going to be looking at the NFCCG gametape and see a guy who is gunshy when he has to make a play downfield
