Who Should I Start? Joshua Dobbs or Taylor Heinicke

Monday, March 18, 6:47 PM

The San Francisco 49ers reached an agreement on an undisclosed one-year deal with free-agent veteran quarterback Joshua Dobbs on Monday, according to his agent, Mike McCartney. Dobbs will give the Niners more depth behind starter Brock Purdy after Sam Darnold signed with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason. The 29-year-old Dobbs was the early season feel-good story in the NFL last year with the Arizona Cardinals and Vikings, but he was ultimately benched in Minnesota after they acquired him in a trade. In 13 games played (12 starts), the Steelers' former fourth-round selection in 2017 out of Tennessee completed 62.8% of his pass attempts for 2,464 yards, 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Dobbs also added six rushing scores. He should be considered the favorite for backups duties over Brandon Allen.

Tuesday, April 2, 2:21 PM

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Taylor Heinicke took a pay cut recently from an expected $5 million base salary in 2024 to $1.21 million, according to Roster Management System. His $1.32 million roster bonus, which was due just after the league year began last month, was instead classified as a signing bonus. His $40,000 per game active roster bonus was also removed from his contract. The reduction in his deal lowers Heinicke's salary cap number from $8.96 million to $4.53 million, including a cash value of $2.53 million. If Atlanta were to release him, he would cost $3.32 million in dead money with only a cap savings of $1.21 million. The 31-year-old got a chance to start in 2023 when Desmond Ridder was benched, but Heinicke did nothing to separate himself and also got hurt. He'll enter 2024 as the backup to starter Kirk Cousins.