Could Cleveland Browns Castoff Be In Play For The San Francisco 49ers?
By Kevin Saito
San Francisco 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan has some work to do in transforming the team from doormat into one that can compete – could a former player of his help that turnaround?
Although the San Francisco 49ers boasted one of the league’s best rushing attacks in 2017 – fourth best, if you’re scoring at home – overall, their offense was terribly anemic. Much of the blame, of course, can be attributed to substandard quarterback play and an unimpressive receiving group – or at least, a receiving group that didn’t have their strengths best utilized.
Neither Colin Kaepernick nor Blaine Gabbert were able to do much to help an offense that ranked thirty-first overall and twenty-seventh in points scored. Between the two, Gabbert and Kaepernick combined for 2,911 passing yards and 21 touchdowns.
Terribly pedestrian numbers, to say the least.
With the team not expected to bring back either one of them, San Francisco will have the chance to vastly upgrade the position either through free agency or the draft – or perhaps, by attempting to pull off a trade that makes all the sense in the world.
Regardless of who ends up being the quarterback for San Francisco in 2017, he’s going to need some weapons to work with. He’ll have the aforementioned potent running game led by Carlos Hyde. But as far as the passing game goes, he’s going to need some help.
Having
– a forgotten man in last year’s offense – in the fold is going to be a big boon for whoever takes over under center. But beyond Smith, the rest of San Francisco’s receiving group is pretty uninspiring.
Last season’s leading receiver Jeremy Kerley is a free agent who may or may not be back with the team. Last year’s second leading receiver – Quinton Patton – is also a free agent whose future is uncertain at this point.
Which leaves the cupboards pretty bare for new HC Kyle Shanahan.
But Shanahan could bring in a familiar face to help add some veteran leadership as well as a little offensive punch – Andrew Hawkins.
The former Bengals and then Browns receiver was given his walking papers by Cleveland, making him a free agent. Though 31 years old and never a number one type of guy, Hawkins could still add plenty of value to a developing 49ers offense.
And let’s not forget that he had the best offensive year of his career in 2014 when Shanahan was the Browns’ offensive coordinator. That season, Hawkins caught 63 balls for 824 yards (a solid average of 13.1 ypc) and a pair of scores.
And that was with the holy trinity of Brian Hoyer, Johnny Manziel, and Connor Shaw throwing the ball. If San Francisco were able to bring in a quarterback who was better than those three – and let’s face it, that shouldn’t be too difficult – it would be difficult to see Hawkins not having a similar level of success.
And if they want to be competitive in 2017, this 49ers team most definitely needs guys on the offensive side of the ball not named Carlos Hyde to have a level of success.
Because he’s not a number one type and because he’ll be 31 years old soon enough, Hawkins won’t command a huge contract. Although the 49ers have a tremendous amount of cap space this season, they’ll still want to find value for productive players.
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And Hawkins could be just that for them – productive at a great value.
He might not be the flashiest or sexiest free agent on the market. But the value he could bring to this squad makes him a veteran receiver well worth at least kicking the tires on.