Monday started with a report the 49ers had an offer of two second-round picks on the table for Jimmy Garoppolo.
By noon the Atlanta Falcons had traded Matt Ryan to Indianapolis for a third-round pick, signed Marcus Mariota as his replacement and New Orleans brought back Jameis Winston to fill its need at quarterback.
The teams still looking to add a quarterback have dwindled to Carolina, Seattle. Both organizations seem to be in similar situations.
After making a big push for Deshaun Watson, the Panthers are still in the market for a quarterback. Last year they traded for Sam Darnold, a move that blew up in their faces when Darnold continued to the poor play he’d shown with the Jets earlier in his career. Carolina owns the sixth pick in the draft, putting them in prime position to draft one of the top available quarterbacks. It seems unlikely they would choose to part with their few later-round picks on a one-year rental.
Seattle received Drew Lock as part of the Russell Wilson trade. While his performance to this point has been suspect, his low salary appears to make him a solid option to lead the team while a new quarterback is ready to go. Would San Francisco consider sending Garoppolo to a division rival anyway?
Another possible trade destination is Houston. Texans general manager Nick Caserio knows Garoppolo well, he was with New England when the Patriots drafted him in 2014. Houston has stated they will move forward with second-year quarterback Davis Mills, perhaps that is a negotiating tactic.
Where does all of this leave the 49ers?
San Francisco has a very talented and deep roster. Less than two months ago they held a 10-point lead on the road over the eventual Super Bowl champions. Although they couldn’t finish the game out, San Francisco has already addressed the areas which played the biggest role in the loss.
Trey Lance spent the majority of 2021 on the sidelines. Although fans were able to catch glimpses of him, teammates marveled at the growth Lance made while running the scout team against San Francisco’s starting defense.
On defense, the 49ers were often forced to play soft coverage due to their personnel on the outside. They addressed this with the signing of Charvarius Ward. This addition means San Francisco can now play tighter coverage across the secondary without being forced to use as much safety help.
Special teams have been a problem in San Francisco for the last two seasons. The additions of former All-Pro George Odum, Oren Burks, and Ray Ray McCloud were made to tighten up these units. The trio will also provide solid depth pieces at safety, linebacker, and wide receiver.
The losses of D.J. Jones and Kentavius Street to free agency left a hole in the interior of San Francisco’s defensive line. The 49ers brought back Kevin Givens and Maurice Hurst. They also added former Eagle defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway. Those three, along with Javon Kinlaw will be looked upon to create a solid rotation inside.
San Francisco has been able to add these free agents and bring back much of their core depth while still having Garoppolo and his $26.95 million cap hit for 2022 still on the books.
So, where do the 49ers go with Garoppolo from here?
The shoulder injury suffered by Garoppolo’in the playoffs against Dallas has played a role in quarterback-needy teams turning to other options.
Currently, the best option for the 49ers is to hold on to Garoppolo and wait for the injury to heal. Once that happens, San Francisco may be able to offload him to another team.
We heard John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan repeatedly state the importance of having a capable backup quarterback throughout the last offseason. If we are to take them at their word, the best course of action if San Francisco cannot find a trade partner is to retain Garoppolo for 2022.
Garoppolo is not expected to begin throwing until around the beginning of July. This means he will miss all offseason workouts and be ready around the start of training camp.
Trey Lance will be given all starting reps throughout the offseason program and into training camp with the expectation he will lead the team in 2022.
You may be asking, “Wouldn’t having Garoppolo around create tension in the locker room and put added pressure on Lance?”
The 49ers have a long history of dealing with this dynamic at the quarterback position. We saw the most recent example play out just last year.
It’s important to realize these are professional athletes who must stand tall during the type of pressure-packed situations most will never face.
If Lance cannot handle the pressure of having Garoppolo watching from the sidelines, or separate himself from the veteran in training camp, there are other issues to discuss.
It will be a similar situation for veterans who have previously expressed support for Garoppolo.
Players will get behind whoever proves they give the team the best chance to win. Lance will need to prove himself whether Garoppolo is on the team or not.
Another layer in all of this is Kyle Shanahan. The current 49ers head coach has spent 14 seasons in the NFL in either his current role or as an offensive coordinator. Over that time, Shanahan has never been a part of back-to-back winning seasons. Does he want to be forced into playing Nate Sudfeld if Lance goes down to injury?
The best way to ensure success in the NFL is to be strong at the most important position.
We saw the result of having a subpar backup just two seasons ago. Despite dealing with several injuries throughout the year, San Francisco was a quarterback away from being a playoff team.
If Lance is who most think he is, nobody will remember the names of free agents not signed or who his backup was.
Grant is firing Lynch today for not signing Za’Darius Smith. If Lynch had signed Za’Darius Smith our old friend Grant would be firing Lynch because Za’Darius Smith had a bad back in 2021 that caused him to miss almost the whole season. Way to go Grant!
You have to take everything that group says with a grain of salt. Grant is all about stirring up drama to get a response and personally I stopped reading anything he puts out a long time ago. It got to be an echo chamber of people around him trying to one up each other on the obnoxious sarcasm meter. If you are into that kind of thing cool but it’s really a waste of time for me.
Well this is so well summed up. I can’t stand that crowd. It’s a bunch of grown ups acting like their in 6th grade again, all trying to get the attention of the cool kid.
” San Francisco has already addressed the areas which played the biggest role in the loss.” They haven’t addressed the feeble pass protection which was major.
Sure, having Garoppolo as a backup should help — I just don’t enjoy watching him and the offensive gymnastics it takes to overcome his flaws. I wish he was gone I don’t enjoy him. It’s near the point where I might enjoy a game more even if we lost as long as he’s gone. And now, we’ve got all this drama — Jimmy Kardashian.
Nevertheless, can’t wait for the season to begin. Go Niners.
There were throws to be made which Garoppolo missed in the NFCCG and kept the game close to begin with.
Oh, and BTW! Did we forget about the 500 pound gorilla at 4949 Centennial Blvd?
* RT McGlinchey’s coming off a torn quadriceps surgery and his backup, FA Tom Compton, signed with Denver.
* RG A. Banks, who was beat out by D. Brunskill, will be the new LG after FA, L. Tomlinson, signed with the NYJ.
* C A. Mack has not decided if he’ll retire or not, and I’m not sure if the 9ers know who’d replace him if he does?
* RG D Brunskill ? McKivitz, Colton? Skule, Justin ? A 2022 draft pick? TBD!
* LT TW….thank god for some continuity….
Why worry? I believe in JL, (and the tooth fair), they’ve got an offer of two 2nd Rd. draft picks for JG! RIGHT?
Brother Geep, thank you for helping me come out of the closet — now I can believe in the tooth fairy, too
My pleasure…..LMAO
It’s time to move on. Way past time in fact. Cut him, trade him to the CFL, but get rid of him already.
We’ve heard, seen more than enough.
Brother Gary, thank you for suggesting the CFL. now I can believe Jimmy will be a goner. I’m not a hater just his quarterbacking hurts; otherwise, he seems like a caring soul.
Damn, when you lose Maiocco that is huge. He is one of the most optimistic Niner beat writers. I actually think they had an offer for 2 2nds from Washington /Mahew but shopped around for a better deal. While Lynch was attempting to wheel and deal, that window closed and now we are stuck. Reminder: A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.
Jack, I thoroughly enjoy your writing but you are so wrong on this one. Having Jimmy on the roster while transitioning to Trey Lance is an awful idea. It’s the most awful of awful ideas ever presented. It’s like getting married and taking Margot Robbie to tag along on your honeymoon. It’s like buying a fully loaded Denali and getting the tow packing to tow around your Porsche. It’s like Joe Biden asking Barack Obama to be his Vice President. It’s all just an awful, terrible, no good idea. For Trey Lance to truly become The Man, the Old Man must be kicked out. For Trey Lance to be the alpha lion in the Pride, the old pride male must be kicked out of the Pride. This axiom is true in nature, in politics, and in football.
Montana and Young — what a mess that was.
On the other hand, there was no cap so having two of everything only cost more money.
* “Montana and Young — what a mess that was.” Oh the misery of it all!
* ” On the other hand” they didn’t have the tooth fairy to make it work….or did they?
Here’s how the tooth fairy and JL makes it work with both Lance and JG.
******** “ONCE UPON A TIME!” *********
1) The 9ers cut JG after he promises to cross his heart and hope to die, that he won’t sign with another team.
2) After cutting JG, the 9ers resign him to a 1 year $5 Mil contract, as Lances backup and he promises JL and
the tooth fairy that he’ll take another one for the team, and support Lance….again.
3) The tooth fairy waives her magic wand , casts a magic spell and all 9 of the 9ers 2022 draft picks become all pro’s! and every one lives happily ever after!
4) Oh, I almost forgot! Jack writes glowing stories about the 9ers great success at winning the SB and and every one (9er fans), live happily ever after!
NOTE: The difference between a “sea story” and a “fairy tail” is…..A sea story begins with THIS IS NO S#(T!
A fairy tail begins with ONCE UPON A TIME
If JG is cut he gets $7.5M in injury guarantied money. If another team signs him, the 49ers get an injury refund up to the first $7.5M of JG’s new contract. If he signs with the 49ers he is guarantied that same $7.5M.
1.6. Get a little emotional at times? Shanny and Lynch know what they are doing.
Two things about Jimmy G. First, he spent almost all of last year playing with a variety of injuries but soldiered on. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the Niner have not had a good QB coach since, uh, when?
Maybe he stinks but his team mates must know something about him because they sure support him. I have no problem if he competes for next year. YMMV and it’s all good.
I agree with Hammer and have said the same thing: Do not give Jimmy G away. He is a real pro and could handle being a backup to TL. He could help coach TL for a year and then depart healed and ready for a starting job again. I still do not get why Lynch paid so much for Sudfeld. He could have gotten him for near nothing as a practice squad QB as he was last year.
Does Lynch have final say with QBs?
Well done Jack, this is interesting to see peoples stances back in March.