On Tuesday, San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice shared his opinion on his former team's quarterback situation. The legendary receiver joined "NFL Total Access" on NFL Network while at a charity golf tournament.
While Rice believes that Brian Hoyer can be a good quarterback for the 49ers, he also believes that the ultimate goal for Shanahan is to acquire Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins at some point. What is interesting is that Rice was asked about Hoyer and not Cousins.
"I think Brian Hoyer is a good quarterback but if I know Kyle Shanahan, he's trying to get Cousins," Rice said. "He really wants him to come into the organization and be that starting quarterback because they have great chemistry together. So maybe somewhere down the road, something's going to happen where he's available and the quarterback is going to be Cousins."
Jerry Rice: If I know Kyle Shanahan, he wants Kirk Cousins as his quarterback
"I'm really excited about Brian," Shanahan said of Hoyer last week. "Brian looked really good here in phase one and phase two of the offseason. He's putting in a lot of work. I got to work with Brian for one year when we were in Cleveland together. He can execute an entire offense. He can read a defense. He can hang in that pocket. He's a guy that's very tough. He doesn't watch the rush. He distributes the ball to whoever should get the ball based on the coverage and he allows guys to make plays."
Hoyer is slated to be the 49ers' starting quarterback in 2017 with Matt Barkley and rookie C.J. Beathard competing for the backup job.
Of course, Shanahan and the 49ers have been very tight lipped when it comes to Cousins since the quarterback is under contract with another team. Washington is trying to work out a long-term deal with Cousins but the sides face a July 15th deadline. If a new deal cannot be struck prior to that date, Cousins will play the 2017 under the one-year $24 million contract from the franchise tag and will likely become a free agent in 2018.
"There's been constant dialogue, I don't want to say it's every day," Washington president Bruce Allen said on Monday. "I do believe that July 15th, the league deadline, really, is going to be the driving point to it, but it's ongoing."