SANTA CLARA – The 49ers added depth to what had been a shallow quarterback corps Monday by dealing two late-round picks for Browns quarterback Colt McCoy and a sixth-round pick.
McCoy started 21 games in Cleveland in 2010 and 2011 but lost his starting job to first-round pick Brandon Weeden last year.
McCoy was due to earn $1.5 million – too much for the Browns, who acquired former Raiders and Bears quarterback Jason Campbell in free agency last week. McCoy has one year left on his contract.
The 49ers dealt their fifth-round pick (No. 164 overall) and the earliest of four seventh-round picks (No. 227) to Cleveland. In return, the 49ers got McCoy and the Browns' sixth-round pick (No. 173 overall).
McCoy will battle Scott Tolzien to be the backup to Colin Kaepernick. While Tolzien hasn't thrown a pass in an NFL regular-season game, McCoy, 26, has thrown 702 passes, completing 58.3 percent with 21 touchdowns against 20 interceptions. He has a career 74.8 passer rating.
The Browns confirmed the trade, but the 49ers have not. McCoy was on a flight to the Bay Area on Monday afternoon.
Neither Tolzien nor McCoy is known for arm strength.
Tolzien, who went undrafted in 2011, is a little taller than McCoy – 6-foot-3 vs. 6-1 – but McCoy has more mobility. He rushed for 1,571 yards and scored 20 rushing touchdowns at Texas and finished second to quarterback Sam Bradford, now with the Rams, for the Heisman Trophy in 2008. Tolzien rushed for minus-9 yards at Wisconsin.
McCoy was a third-round pick by the Browns in 2010. He missed three games that season with an ankle injury and the final three games of 2011 after suffering a concussion against Pittsburgh. He is the second Texas-by-way-of-Cleveland player the 49ers have acquired this offseason. The team signed former Browns kicker Phil Dawson last month.
The 49ers now have 13 picks in this month's draft, and they still could select a quarterback. The only other passer they have looked at is free agent Pat White, who worked out for the team last week but left without a contract.
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