The 49ers essentially traded backup quarterbacks with the Vikings and won the deal.
The Vikings recently signed former 49ers quarterback Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million contract while the 49ers just signed former Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs to a one-year, $2.25 million contract. Which means the 49ers got the cheaper, better quarterback.
Darnold never was a good fit for the 49ers, because he's indecisive, inaccurate, he turns the ball over too much, gets sacked a ton and he's not cheap for a backup.
Dobbs is the opposite. He's decisive, he gets the ball out of his hands quickly, he's mobile, he can avoid sacks, he's a threat to run, he's more accurate than Darnold and he's extremely cheap.
That's not to say Dobbs is great -- he's a backup for a reason. But he was the Arizona Cardinals starting quarterback last season while Kyler Murray recovered from a torn ACL, he played well for about a month, which is all you need from a backup.
During that month, Dobbs beat the Dallas Cowboys and posted a quarterback rating of 120 during that game. The following week, he posted a quarterback rating of 102.2 against the 49ers.
Those two performances were far better than anything Darnold ever did in Santa Clara.
Dobbs clearly impressed the 49ers that day. He didn't have much talent around him, and yet he kept the Cardinals in the game, got sacked just once and didn't turn the ball over.
The 49ers should be able to win with him if he has to play.
More must-reads: