In a signing that should happen when free agency first opens, it looks as if Pierre Garçon will be packing his bags and moving West to join the San Francisco 49ers. While this news is yet to be official, it’s certainly worth looking into as several sources are in agreement a deal is done in which Garçon will be paid a whopping $16 million from the 49ers in the first year alone. The move would reunite Garçon with Kyle Shanahan, the coach he found the most success with while he was in Washington. The move has far reaching dynasty impact. Let’s spin around the players affected by the signing.
Pierre Garçon, WR SF
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Garçon enjoyed his best season in 2013, the last year Shanahan was the Offensive Coordinator in Washington. That year he posted 113 catches for 1,346 yards and scored five touchdowns. While the scores weren’t much to write home about, the catches and yards represent a career high for the nine-year veteran. A move to the Bay Area is tough to really judge at the moment as San Francisco still needs to shake their quarterback situation out. They signed Brian Hoyer earlier today but almost certainly view him as a stopgap solution to bridge time for a rookie to develop or as their backup or to be a backup to a certain player they trade for. Yes, rumors will continue to also swirl around Kirk Cousins’ availability and most believe the 49ers will eventually land him, moving Hoyer where he likely belongs – holding a clipboard on the sidelines.
Regardless, Garçon is immediately the best wideout on the San Francisco roster and with the likes of Jeremy Kerley, DeAndre Smelter, Marquise Goodwin (a sneaky signing), Chris Harper and other players not named Jerry Rice currently in tow, expect San Francisco to keep shopping for wideouts throughout free agency and during the NFL Draft. Garçon is perfectly suited for the “X” role in this offense and should flirt with WR2 numbers this season on a team destined to throw quite a bit, though. He’s a great player to have as depth on a contending dynasty team, though building around him certainly wouldn’t be wise. Still, there were worse places for him to end up and Shanahan should be able to utilize his talents. Even though he’s never been a huge touchdown producer, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him post 90 catches or more this next season and post his third 1,000 yard season. He’s always been a quiet producer and now has over 7,000 yards in his career, proving his reliability. Garçon has a nice chance to post a WR2 season this year and should be a prime target for contenders to target as he won’t cost an arm and a leg.
Brian Hoyer, QB SF
Let’s reserve judgment on Hoyer for the moment as this depth chart is far from complete. If he is the starter, having Garçon certainly helps. I just can’t imagine too many scenarios where a contending fantasy team is rolling him out in their lineup on a Sunday afternoon.
Kirk Cousins, QB WAS
It’s ironic, isn’t it? At the moment, this signing hurts Cousins as a receiver who had 116 targets just walked out the door. However, it could help him if Cousins is moved to San Francisco. This is where free agency sure is fun!
Washington Receivers
The Redskins re-upped Vernon Davis today and are nearly destined to lose DeSean Jackson to free agency here shortly. That leaves Josh Doctson, Jamison Crowder and Ryan Grant at the top of the depth chart. Jordan Reed is going to be an absolute target monster but it’s hard to not look at this as a positive for the outlook of the others, most notably Doctson. If he can remain healthy, there are footballs to be caught in Washington. Crowder is also going to get a nice bump, pending any other off-season additions by the Redskins.
One thing is certain with this move – the offense in Washington is going to look a whole lot different next season as this looks like the first of what could be many dominoes to fall in the next few days. Rest assured we’ll over them all.
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Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK
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