6. Brian Hoyer, quarterback, San Francisco 49ers
Contract: two-years, $12 million
Let’s be as clear as we can here. Hoyer is not the 49ers’ long-term solution at quarterback. Heck depending on what happens with the Kirk Cousins’ situation, he might not even be San Francisco’s starter in 2017. He was, however, the team’s best possible stopgap option on the free-agent market.
Surely, stats don’t mean a whole heck of a lot. Depending on them is the equivalent of being a box-score scout. That’s fine and dandy, but Hoyer has played the best football of his career over the past two seasons.
Hoyer, past 14 starts: 62.9 comp %, 4,051 yards, 25 TD, 7 INT, 93.7 rating
Eli Manning in 2016: 63.0 comp, 4,027 yds, 26/16, 86.0 rating.
— Vincent Frank (@VincentFrankNFL) March 10, 2017
He also knows Kyle Shanahan’s offense almost as good as any quarterback not named Matt Ryan. That’s a big deal with Shanny himself looking to build something in San Francisco.
The deal calls for an average annual salary of $6 million, including a total of $10 million guaranteed. Hoyer can earn as much as $9 million per season when incentives are factored in. Considering Mike Glennon received $15 million annually from Tampa Bay, this is an absolute steal for the 49ers.
We wouldn’t put it past Hoyer to have a career season under Shanahan in 2017. Nearly 4,000 passing yards with 25 scores is not out of the question here. But even if he doesn’t live up to those expectations, this contract represents a tremendous amount of value.