One week before the start of the new league year -- when the 49ers still had hopes of trading Jimmy Garoppolo -- the club made a tentative decision on its backup quarterback.
After Nate Sudfeld spent the 2021 season on the 49ers’ practice squad, the club gave him a fully guaranteed 700-percent raise for 2022. He is guaranteed to earn $2 million this season.
That is not the kind of money invested in a player who is ticketed for another season on the practice squad.
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Coach Kyle Shanahan said he was impressed with what he saw up-close from Sudfeld as the No. 3 quarterback last year behind Garoppolo and Trey Lance. Sudfeld formed a close bond with Lance. He understands a backup must be invested in doing all he can to support and assist the starter.
“Nate’s got the skillset to be very successful in this league,” Shanahan said. “And he hasn’t gotten a ton of opportunities to get in there, but I think our team believes in him. I believe in him. And what he’s done in practice is what we go off of. And I think if he does get that opportunity, he’ll be ready for it.”
Sudfeld entered the league as a sixth-round pick of Washington in the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, appearing in just four games. He completed 25 of 37 pass attempts for 188 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Sudfeld, 28, is on the 49ers’ roster behind Lance, the presumptive starter whom the 49ers traded up to No. 3 overall to select in last year’s draft. Garoppolo is four weeks into an expected 16-week rehabilitation period after undergoing shoulder surgery.
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The 49ers will continue to attempt to trade Garoppolo, whose scheduled $25.6 million pay in salary and bonuses for 2022 is not guaranteed.
Lance and Sudfeld will get significant practice time during the offseason program with Garoppolo likely to be unable to throw a football until approximately a month before training camp. The 49ers open their offseason program on April 19.
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Sudfeld has not gotten an opportunity to gain experience with valuable football reps since starting 12 games in 2015 as a senior at Indiana. Shanahan said it is a constant challenge to develop non-starting professional quarterbacks, such as Sudfeld.
“It is the tough thing with this league. There is no minor-league system,” Shanahan said. “You get three preseason games and you’re not always trying to put guys in in the second half and get them a lot of playing time. Sometimes there are blocking issues in the second half of preseason games and it’s not the safest thing for quarterbacks. So they sit there and you wish you could do more for them.”