The San Francisco 49ers announced Thursday evening they had signed Oakland native and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer QB Josh Johnson to a two-year deal. Johnson is well-connected to the 49ers as he was a star pupil of head coach Jim Harbaugh when the two were at the University of San Diego. Johnson was an undersized QB coming out of high school, but Harbaugh helped develop him into an eventual draft pick and backup quarterback in Tampa Bay.
Some of the details of Johnson's contract leaked out today and it is a deal that is both friendly to the 49ers, but also provides incentives for Johnson in the upcoming QB competition. Johnson's two year deal is worth $2 million at its base, including a $350,000 signing bonus. The deal also includes up to an additional $1.5 million in incentives that would be based on starting playing time and strong performance.
The general belief is that Alex Smith is the sure-fire number one, with Johnson coming in to compete with Colin Kaepernick for the number two job. In his Friday conference call with the media, Johnson indicated his belief in coming to San Francisco was simply concerned with getting training camp reps so he would have an opportunity to show what he can do.