Getty Former Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen will re-sign with the 49ers.
Former Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen will continue the second-longest NFL career for a former Razorbacks signal caller this fall.
Allen will re-sign with the San Francisco 49ers according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Monday. Last season, Allen served in a third-string role for the 49ers, which fell 25-22 in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Entering his ninth season, Allen only trails former Hogs quarterback Joe Ferguson for longevity in the NFL. Ferguson played 17 seasons with four different teams.
Late former Razorbacks quarterback Ryan Mallett trailed both Allen and Ferguson at seven seasons. Mallett, who backed up Tom Brady with the New England Patriots, retired in 2017 before his untimely death in 2023.
Allen turned heads at Arkansas amid 7,463 career yards passing for third all time in Razorbacks history. He completed 57.4% of his passes for 64 touchdowns versus 26 interceptions in his career from 2012 to 2015.
Brandon Allen had 64 career touchdown passes in his time at Arkansas, the most by an Arkansas QB.
He tied and broke Ryan Mallett’s record of 62 in 2015 against Mississippi State and threw his final TD pass against Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl.
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Allen in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Allen didn’t see regular season action with the Jaguars, and that same occurred for his short stint with the Los Angeles Rams.
His chances came with the Denver Broncos in 2019 and Cincinnati Bengals from 2020 to 2022. Allen started three games for the Broncos and tallied 515 yards passing for three touchdowns versus two interceptions. With the Bengals, Allen completed 61.5% of his passes for 1,096 yards and seven touchdowns versus four picks when starter Joe Burrow was sidelined amid injury.
San Francisco could tab Allen for the No. 2 quarterback spot because fellow quarterback Sam Darnold agreed to sign with the Minnesota Vikings on Monday. Allen had a one-year, $1.23 million contract last season, a lower salary cap hit than Darnold. The 4ers face $7.43 million over the cap this offseason.
Allen caught on quickly in San Francisco as of training camp last year. If 49ers starter Brock Purdy goes down, the team has a reliable backup in Allen.
“This system works well for quarterbacks who can just be accurate and play on time,” Allen told NBC Sports Bay Area at camp in 2023.
Brandon Allen, 49ers’ Dre Greenlaw Go Back to Arkansas Days
While 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw drew more of the national attention than Allen last season, the two are friends from their time growing up in Fayetteville, Arkansas, together and playing for the Razorbacks.
Both played together in 2015 at Arkansas when Allen was a senior. The 49ers drafted Greenlaw in 2019 with a fifth-round pick after his senior season.
“Both of them had stellar high school and college careers and to see them playing together now is special,” Bobby Allen, Brandon Allen’s father, told SB Live Sports’ Nate Olson in February before the Super Bowl.
The two former Razorbacks were caught celebrating in the Divisional Round win over the Green Bay Packers when Greenlaw made a game-sealing interception. Allen served as the emergency quarterback in that game.
“That was a great moment,” Bobby Allen told Olson. “Dre came up big, and they both enjoyed that. They are former teammates from way back, and that was great to see them both smiling and happy. Brandon was happy for him to make that play.”
Brandon Allen Challenge Trey Lance Before Trade
Allen contended for the third quarterback spot in San Francisco last year despite the presence of Purdy, Darnold and 2021 No. 3 pick Trey Lance. San Francisco traded Lance to the Dallas Cowboys in August 2023, and Allen remained on the final 53-man roster.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio noted the “suspicion in some circles” is that Lance would have fallen behind Allen to fourth string. Instead, Lance served as the Cowboys’ third-string quarterback.
“We had pretty good knowledge that we think he would’ve got claimed,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said of Allen in August 2023 via Florio. “If there was a third quarterback out there you could put on your practice squad you felt as good with, then it wouldn’t be an issue. But when he’s going to get claimed and how he feel about him, it was important to keep him.”