On Wednesday morning, it was reported that the San Francisco 49ers signed quarterback Brandon Allen. The terms of the deal have not been announced yet, but it can be assumed that it is a one-year deal. Here is a look at why signing Brandon Allen is an important move by the 49ers.
49ers Sign Brandon Allen
Former Bengals QB Brandon Allen (9) – John Minchillo/AP Photo
The signing was announced by Tom Pelissero on Twitter. Allen will be the fourth quarterback with San Francisco, who usually do keep four quarterbacks each year. Between Brock Purdy, Trey Lance, and Sam Darnold. Of course, this is not the most important signing of the season, but there are perks to it.
There was a lot of speculation as to who the 49ers would bring in to be the fourth quarterback on the Roster. It was originally expected that San Francisco would take a rookie. A large reason that they may not have done that is due to the Brock Purdy Effect. Even following the draft, rookie quarterbacks went quickly as undrafted free agents. This led the 49ers to go the veteran route signing Brandon Allen.
Brandon Allen’s History in the NFL
Allen has been in the league for just four years, spending one year in Denver and three in Cincinnati. Allen has only played in 15 games in four years. His time with the Bengals was the same time that Joe Burrow was developing as a quarterback. While Allen will not see the field unless Purdy, Lance, and Darnold all go down, his history of actually playing is not the most important aspect of the signing. Potentially he can take what was taught to him and Burrow and bring it to Lance and Purdy.
Allen started nine games, completing 149 out of 263 passes for 1,611 yards, according to Sports Reference. He has ten passing touchdowns and six interceptions. Of course, this is not a lot to go on, but the hope is that the 49ers’ quarterback room will remain healthy enough for Allen to not have to play.
Bengals quarterbacks Joe Burrow (9) and Brandon Allen (8) – Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
Importance of Brandon Allen for the 49ers
The 49ers were originally heading into training camp with just Lance and Darnold as Purdy heals up. This made it important to get someone in on the sooner side. The team did the same last year when Purdy was drafted, and the team was originally not including Jimmy Garoppolo. There was always the plan for the team to add one more quarterback to the mix.
First, because it does need to be addressed, if the 49ers do trade Lance, this will still ensure the team has three quarterbacks on the roster who have gone through training camp. The team saw how all four quarterbacks went down last season and wanted a veteran to make sure that the position was ready in case anything happened. If the team does trade Lance, they have a third quarterback already, which is less stress on the staff searching for another.
Now, if the 49ers do not trade Lance, which is what the team is insisting, this still helps. Once again, San Francisco always keeps four quarterbacks on their roster during training camp. In the NFC Championship Game, the 49ers had to use Josh Johnson, who genuinely struggled on the field. The team cannot risk that happening again. Hopefully, it never will, but now it is clear that there is always a real chance of going through all the quarterbacks.
The Bengals kept Allen on their roster for three years, which means they trusted him enough to go in if he had to. Brandon Allen is a veteran but only 30 and will be 31 during the season. He is not old, but still, be the oldest quarterback on the roster. He can be there to push the other quarterbacks and be there in the care of emergencies as well. While the hope is that Allen never sees the field, signing the veteran quarterback was still a smart move while there were limited available rookies.
