Josh Rosen apparently did enough during his brief trial with the 49ers to justify a new deal. The 49ers have re-signed the former first-round pick for a one-year contract, the team announced Monday.
The 10th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Rosen spent most of the 2020 season in the Buccaneers training squad. He was signed by the 49ers just three days before the team’s Week 16 victory over the Cardinals – the team that Rosen had drafted two years earlier. Rosen spent the rest of the year on the 49ers’ active roster, but saw no action in the game. He supported CJ Beathard, who played well during his only two starts in the 2020 season.
Beathard, who will be an unlimited free agent during the off-season, was one of three full-backs to start for the 49ers in 2020. Garoppolo led 3-3 as a 49-year-old, while Nick Mullens, a four-year veteran who is a restricted free agent, has won just two of his eight starting teams under center. Beathard started her twice after replacing Mullens, who ended an elbow injury during San Francisco Week 15 against the Cowboys this season.
Despite the quarterback carousel, the 49ers finished in 12th place in the NFL in passing in 2020. They were also eighth in the league in the efficiency of the red zone. Third downturn was a problem, though, as the 49ers were 24th in the league in that division. Injuries at quarterback, along with several other positions, contributed greatly to the 49ers’ disappointing 6-10 record a year after representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.
Although he will not yet realize his potential from the concept, the former UCLA star will only be 24 years old when the 2021 season begins. Rosen was also not exactly set to succeed during the first two seasons of his career. In Arizona, Rosen was thrown as a rookie in the starting lineup, where he played behind one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines. After being traded to Miami in 2019, Rosen once again played behind an offensive line that allowed him to be fired 16 times during his three starts that season. In his first 16 starts, Rosen was fired 61 times.
Josh Rosen
SF • QB •
Rosen has passed at least once in nine of his 16 careers.
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Keeping Rosen adds assurance to a 49ers team hoping to avoid another season with injuries in 2021. It also gives Rosen another season to work with Kyle Shanahan, who has had a notable success working with several established backs. Along with his success with Garoppolo, Shanahan reached a Super Bowl with Matt Ryan during his time as the Falcons’ attacking coordinator. Prior to that, Shanahan was Washington’s attacking coordinator when Robert Griffin won the Offensive Rookie of the Year while leading the soccer team to a division title. As Houston’s attacking coordinator in 2009, Shanahan helped Matt Schaub win a passing title on his way to his first Pro Bowl pick.
The jury is currently figuring out how the 49ers will use the overall number 12 in this draft. In his most recent mockery, CBS Sports NFL consultant Ryan Wilson selected the 49ers to pick Trey Lance in North Dakota. However, Chris Trapasso lets San Francisco find a complementary piece for George Kittle with the choice of Florida tighthead Kyle Pitts. CBS co-designer Josh Edwards believes the 49ers will use the overall pick as number 12 to bolster their secondary series. He has the 49ers occupying former Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II in second place in the CBS Sports prospect.