San Francisco 49ers reportedly acquire Blaine Gabbert from Jacksonville Jaguars

In the midst of the flurry of free agency transactions in the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers reportedly pulled off a trade that will bring them a potentially viable option at backup quarterback.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that San Francisco is sending a 6th round pick (presumably in 2014) to Jacksonville in exchange for former 1st round quarterback Blaine Gabbert, and this is an interesting move. Earlier in the week, the Jaguars locked up Chad Henne to be part of their quarterback picture, leaving no room for Gabbert, and the Niners likely see a highly pedigreed player available for little cost.

Gabbert was the 10th overall pick in the 2011 draft, but other than a few minor blips, he has been less than stellar in Jacksonville. The 24-year-old has a career completion rate of 53.3% with more interceptions (24) than touchdowns (22), and that is never what you want to see out of your still developing asset. In San Francisco, though, the pressure would be off Gabbert completely as he has no designs on the starting job held by Colin Kaepernick, and perhaps he can assume his destined role of career backup.