San Francisco 49ers a strong match for FA Taylor Gabriel
A reunion between the San Francisco 49ers coach and Taylor Gabriel feels inevitable
Rarely do perfect marriages emerge in NFL free agency, but for the San Francisco 49ers and Taylor Gabriel, this may just be the case.
Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cleveland Browns in 2014 Gabriel racked up what is now the most receiving yards in his career with 621. Working with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, Gabriel established himself in a wide receiver-heavy draft class, featuring Mike Evans, Odell Beckham Jr., Allen Robinson, Jordan Matthews, John Brown, Donte Moncrief, Jarvis Landry, and Devante Adams.
Once again, Shanahan left for a new job, this time as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Once again, Gabriel had a down season with 378 yards and one touchdown despite having as many receptions.
Now as Gabriel enters free agency he has another opportunity to reunite with Shanahan on a wide-receiver hungry team.
San Francisco struggled to compete with Pierre Garcon and Marquise Goodwin as their leading receivers last year with both combining for 1,462 yards. Help came from tight ends Garrett Celek and George Kittle, but San Francisco clearly needs to add at least two receivers.
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Gabriel is far from a number one receiver, or even a very good number two at this point in his career. San Francisco can have him as a very good slot receiver and a slightly above average outside player.
Jimmy Garoppolo made do with what he had last year, but as fans have seen with Carson Wentz in Philadelphia and Jared Goff in Los Angeles, surrounding younger quarterbacks with as much talent as possible only helps in a run towards the playoffs.
General manager John Lynch has around $60 million in cap space after giving Garoppolo $37 million this year, leaving plenty of room for Gabriel coming off a deal worth less than $3 million with Atlanta.
With his experience and success playing for Shanahan, Gabriel could be a diamond in the rough this offseason.