49ers Sign New Backup Quarterback for Jimmy Garoppolo

The San Francisco 49ers were fortunate to have Jimmy Garoppolo as a backup when Trey Lance went down with a season-ending ankle injury last week. That created a new problem for the 49ers, however, as they needed a new backup for Garoppolo and Brock Purdy.

After working out five unsigned free agents on Tuesday, the team settled on Kurt Benkert, signing him to the practice squad.

San Francisco 49ers News

Benkert apparently was the most impressive out of the five quarterbacks who auditioned for the opening, beating out A.J. McCarron, Garrett Gilbert, Kevin Hogan and Mike Glennon.

The 27-year-old was with the Atlanta Falcons and the Green Bay Packers previously. While he never played for the Falcons, he saw limited game action for the Packers last year, coming in for a pair of kneel-downs at the end of Green Bay's 45-30 win over the Chicago Bears in Week 14.

Benkert seems like a curious choice considering he's never thrown a pass in an NFL game before, so the 49ers must have really liked what they saw from him during the workout .

San Francisco 49ers Playoff Odds

Despite losing Lance and starting the season 1-1, San Francisco is still favored to make the playoffs with -166 odds on FanDuel Sportsbook's NFL odds. Those odds reflect a lot of faith in Garoppolo, who lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance during the 2019 campaign as well as the NFC Conference Championship Game last season.