The 49ers biggest roster battle ended Friday when the team cut veteran quarterback Matt Barkley, thus making rookie C.J. Beathard the top backup behind Brian Hoyer going into the season.
There was heavy foreshadowing throughout August. Beathard started the 49ers’ game against the Chargers on Thursday, the third time he entered a contest ahead of Barkley in the preseason. Another rookie, Nick Mullens, played the second half, Mullens’ only work of the preseason. Barkley didn’t play at all.
The decision at quarterback seemed to fit a theme in which the 49ers held onto younger players and moved on from older ones.