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Although there are likely still some final details to work out, the 49ers appear to have swung a deal to acquire Browns quarterback Colt McCoy. Initial reports were talking about a deal involving a late round pick, but we now have some clarification on the picks involved.
#browns get 5th and 7th from #49ers, #49ers get colt McCoy and #browns 6th, source tells Pd. Still on the boat!
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) April 1, 2013
The 49ers get Colt McCoy and Cleveland's 6th round pick. the Browns get a 7th and a 5th from SF. (49ers move back 9 spots from 5th to 6th).
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) April 1, 2013
Terms of Colt McCoy trade to #49ers: Browns sent McCoy & 6th rndr to Niners for their 5th and 7th, per source @jasonlacanfora first reported
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 1, 2013
The 49ers entered today with a pair of fifth round picks, including their own at No. 164 and the Colts at No. 157. If these tweets ring true, they deal No. 164 and acquire the Browns No. 173 pick. The 49ers also have a pair of tradable seventh round picks (they cannot trade comp picks), so one of those two will go to Cleveland. That means the team will deal two picks for one, with one of the two resulting in a decline of only nine spots. Not too shabby in my mind for a guy who can genuinely compete for the backup QB spot. And the 49ers still have 13 draft picks.
As far as the contract involved, McCoy is due a base salary of $1.5 million in 2013. Spotrac offers a different number, but I'd recommend checking the Over the Cap link instead. They are a bit more reliable. The 49ers entered the day with $4.6 million in cap space, so this would bring them down to $3.1 million. McCoy would have counted for $1,687,750 against the Browns cap, reflecting the pro-rated signing bonus. He will only count for $1.5 million against the 49ers cap, with the difference being dead money on the Browns cap.
McCoy is an unrestricted free agent after this season, while current 49ers QB Scott Tolzien is a restricted free agent. While McCoy has more experience, I expect a fully open training camp battle between the two QBs for the backup role. Some are assuming McCoy automatically slots in at QB2, but given that Tolzien has two years in the system, he has somewhat of an edge in that regard.